


Loving You

by Love_of_fandoms



Category: Bright (2017)
Genre: Breaking societal norms, Daryl Ward is in denial, Dates, Elf town, Elves, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gay Best Friend, Human, Innocence, Kandomere (Bright) is very out of his element, Mates, Montehugh is the gay best friend, Movie Dates, Movie Night, Nick is a good friend, OFC is an innocent bean, OFC is just as bad, Orcs, Racism, Romance, Sexual Tension, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-25
Updated: 2019-07-02
Packaged: 2019-07-17 13:24:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16096547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Love_of_fandoms/pseuds/Love_of_fandoms
Summary: When Kandomere is bugged by his mother to come visit, he begrudgingly accepts. But to his surprise, she has company. A human girl with lavender hair and a curvy figure has befriended his mother. Who is she? Why does he not hate her?Updates every other Wednesday.Follow my tumblr to ask questions and get info on how the story is progressing, it's Love-of-Fandoms





	1. Chapter 1

“What?” Kandomere sighed, after his cell rang for the third time in 10 minutes.  
“Well, don’t sound so happy to hear from me…” the voice of his mother said in a joking tone.  
“Oh! Mamá! Sorry, I thought you were my work,” he replied, mortified by the disrespect he had just shown his mother. He could’ve just checked the caller ID, but he was too annoyed to think of anyone other than Montehugh calling, and it was his day off, he did not want to do work.  
Most people thought Kandomere was a workaholic, and he was, often taking his work home with him, however that made it even more significant when he took a voluntary day off. He did not want to deal with work on his day of rest.  
“That’s okay, mi hijo, I was just calling because that lovely human you work with told me you had the day off, and I haven’t seen you in a year! Why don’t you want to spend time with your old mamá?” She laughed.  
“I didn’t know if you were busy or not, I wouldn’t want to bother you,” Kandomere stammered, knowing it was a piss poor excuse if he’d ever heard one.  
“Boy, you get over here right now and spend the day with your mamá!” she demanded, he could practically see the cross look on her face.  
“Yes, ma’am,” Kandomere murmured, hanging up the phone and going to get dressed, then grabbing his lambo keys on the way out the door.

Freya pulled her 1968 red chevy camaro into the garage of Adalira’s mansion in elf town. It had been a week or two since she had visited, and she had just baked a set of Adalira’s favorite muffins, so she thought she’d stop buy to share the muffins and have some tea. Adalira was on her as soon as she stepped out of the car, showering her in hugs and kisses on her cheeks and forehead.  
“How are you, Freya?” Adalira asked, holding said human at arms length to look at her.  
Freya always felt a little odd when other people looked at her like Adalira was. She felt hyper sensitive to her flaws. She was on the chubbier side, having large breasts and a large ass, however those don’t come without a little bit of a belly. Her rational side knew she was healthy and her chub wasn’t even that noticeable, but her other side, the her that had been dealing with depression since the age of 6, told her that everyone noticed, especially elves like Adalira. Elves were naturally beautiful, naturally skinny and muscular. Freya knew she wasn’t totally unattractive, her hair was in a pixie cut with made her face look better, and her grey eyes were not dull like many others. Right now her hair was a light lavender, she dyed it a different color every other month. She was short, much shorter than the elves she hung out with and definitely much shorter than the orcs she lived near. At 5’2’’ she was shorter than most adult humans as well. It frustrated her to no end.  
“I’m good Adalira, and I brought you something I think you’ll like!” Nonetheless, Freya put on a bright smile and reached into the passenger seat, taking out the tray of cinnamon blueberry muffins. Adalira smirked, pinching Freya’s cheek.  
“You see, this is why I keep you around,” she said, taking the tray and walking into the main house. Freya followed, putting her car keys on the hook in the entryway and going into the kitchen attached to the main living space. The main floor of the 7 floor mansion was mostly open concept, so Freya could see Adalira over the island in the center of the kitchen. She found herself rifling through the extensive tea collection Adalira had, picking out her favorite, a strawberry cheesecake tea Adalira bought in Vancouver. She started the stove, putting the pitcher full of water over it and went about putting three sugars in her cup and one in Adalira’s. She picked out the goofy mugs, which most elves would balk at if they saw them in Adalira’s kitchen. One mug had a painting of a hedgehog on it, with a baby hedgehog on its head. Freya had painted that one. The other mug had a speech bubble saying “Don’t talk to me til this is empty” In big red letters. The whole time she was conversing with Adalira.  
“How’s the business going?” she asked. Adalira was the CEO of a large company that manufactured beauty products. Freya was pleased to admit that she got her hair products there and for free even! Perks of being loved by the CEO.  
“Oh! Wonderful! Our stocks went up by…” Adalira went on explaining the amazing economic place her company was in, and Freya nodded along, not understanding a word. At one point she thought that Adalira even switched into Spanish.  
“But how’s the shop?” Adalira eventually asked. Freya perked up, by this time having sat down on the opposite end of the couch with two cups of tea on the coffee table in front of them.  
“Well, I’ve recently been able to add a greenhouse in the back yard, because business has been so good!” Freya beamed proudly. “I’ve also been able to buy more things for the dojo with my extra income!” Adalira smiled fondly. When Freya moved at age 19 from the prestigious elf town to the orc sector to open her own flower shop, Adalira was extremely proud of the human girl, her adoptive parents, however, disowned her. You’d think adopting a human child would make them less racist, but they just couldn’t get over their hatred for orcs. Adalira took Freya under her wing, suffering from her 100th year with an empty nest. Kandomere barely ever called, let alone visited, but Freya was a very attentive young girl, free with her emotions and extremely kind.  
Kandomere, at age 137, never seemed to even think of his mother, but Freya had visited at least once a week for 7 years, now being 26, and even brought gifts, like those lovely muffins.  
The women paused when the doorbell rang, echoing through the house. Freya blushed. “Were you expecting someone? I can leave…” she trailed off, getting ready to stand. Adalira motioned with her hand for Freya to sit back down.  
“Oh, hush, I’m glad you showed up today, Kandomere is coming to visit today, and I think it’s about time you meet,” Adalira smiled while Freya blanched.  
“Like, your son Kandomere? Like, MTF agent Kandomere? Does he even know I exist?” Adalira rolled her eyes.  
“Well if he came to visit more often he would, but he hasn’t been here in a year and you never came up in conversation the 6 years before that.” Freya paled even more.  
“You mean to tell me,” she paused, rubbing a hand over her face. “This guy that I’ve looked up to since I was a kid, who you’ve been telling me stories about, who is literally my role model, has no idea of my existence?! And now I’m going to meet him while casually having tea with his mum?” Slowly raising her voice, she leaned back after she was done speaking, sighing and flopping her arms out.  
“Well when you put it like that…” Adalira was cut off by the bell ringing again, and she rolled her eyes. “Oh, that boy is so impatient, give me a moment,” and with that she went to the door to greet her son. Freya sat up straight again, eyes scanning the room before they fell on the mugs in front of her.   
“Fuck,” she muttered. That would look odd to Kandomere…  
“Who’s in your house, mamá?”  
“Double fuck,” she groaned. Just as she threw her head back to express her displeasure to the world, Kandomere and Adalira turned the corner. She quickly maneuvered her short hair to cover the tips of her ears, not that it would do much, elves actually have a better sense of smell than orcs.  
“Who are you?” she heard his deep tenor ask.  
“I am…” she paused. “In need of something stronger than tea,” she grumbled, getting up and sauntering into the kitchen. Pulling out a bottle of vodka, not even bothering to grab a glass, Freya knew in the back of her mind that this must be the worst first impression she’d ever made. She was also aware that she had yet to make eye contact with her elven idol. She knew if she did she’d probably melt. She’d seen pictures of Kandomere and was painfully aware of how attractive he was compared to her.  
“Mamá?” She heard Kandomere ask Adalira instead. Freya settled back on the couch, taking sips directly from the bottle.  
“Oh, this is Freya,” Adalira said, and in the corner of Freya’s eye she could see Adalira motioning to her. Freya stood, the bottle ¼ empty and she felt ready to face the music, also confident that Adalira would do most of the talking. She gave a two fingered salute as she fully faced Kandomere, and froze. He was definitely an elf. Attractive face, slightly taller than an average human male, and three piece suit that fit perfectly and accentuated all the right places. Freya paled, taking in the gorget around his neck. Elves above all, above all elves. Damn it, he was one of those elves.  
“She was the adoptive daughter of the couple down the street. She baked these lovely muffins, would you like one?” Adalira introduced her.  
“Was?” Kandomere asked. Damn it again.  
“They disowned me when I opened my flower shop in the orc sector,” Freya cut in before Adalira could explain. “Racist assholes, they were. But hey, business is flourishing and I opened my own dojo above the shop,” she smirked. Yes, her adoptive elf parents provided for her from age 3 to age 18, but she was really raised by the help and Adalira. They were never really a part of her life.  
“Language, dear,” Adalira sighed, taking the now half empty bottle from Freya. Kandomere was not so subtly eyeing the bottle, a look of surprise on his face.  
“I have about the same tolerance of an elf, don’t look so surprised,” Freya rolled her eyes. Kandomere nodded, unsure of how to handle this situation. “Well?” Freya asked, causing Kandomere to get a deer in the headlights look. “Sit down, stay awhile, god knows you haven’t visited your mother in a little over a year,”. Kandomere awkwardly nodded, settling himself in an armchair by the fireplace.  
“I’m sorry, why have I never heard of you?” Kandomere asked, his brain finally catching up to him.  
“Oh, because you never visit, so when Adalira does get time to talk to you she doesn’t want to waste time talking about the human that visits her every week, she wants to spend time with her son,” Freya rose an eyebrow, as if to say ‘you probably would know of me if you saw your mother more’. Kandomere looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with her.

As Kandomere avoided eye contact with the human girl, he took the time to think about her features. She was curvy, and had striking grey eyes. She was not conventionally beautiful, but he admitted to himself that she did look rather pretty sitting on the couch in a purple sundress. Her left wrist had a tattoo on it, however he couldn’t see the design from the distance he was at. What he found very odd was her instinct to cover her ears. She must know he could smell that she was human, yet she still felt the need to cover the tips of her ears. Probably due to her adoptive elven parents. He had to give her credit, her statement was true, that family was full of, as she so articulately put it ‘racist assholes’.  
“What would you like?” he heard her ask. Kandomere snapped out of his daze to look up at Freya.  
“What?” he had no idea what she was talking about. She smiled sweetly at him.  
“Tea, coffee, water, the good stuff?” she prompted, standing to go to the kitchen, gifting Kandomere with a good view of her ass. Not that he was looking! Nope, not attracted to her at all. “I make some great cocktails if you’d like to try one? Or you could be like your mother and claim you don’t drink, but have three cabinets full of alcohol…” she shot a pointed glance at his mother, and Kandomere was surprised to see Adalira roll her eyes.  
“You’ve gifted me with at least ⅔ of those bottles, dear,” she laughed, sitting back down on the couch and sipping from her mug with hedgehogs on it. That was also surprising. Kandomere didn’t think his mother was capable of owning anything but fine china.  
“Tea would be good,” Kandomere said, not wanting to trouble the human. Odd, usually he didn’t care about the other species. Montehugh was, of course, an exception, but that took years. This human was already on the road to being an exception as well after less than five minutes. The human humphed.  
“You sure? I can make coffee, Adalira told me you’ve always preferred that…” she trailed off, seemingly embarrassed that she could remember that detail about him.  
“Well if you’re offering,” he smiled, trying to ease her nerves, and she gave a small smile back, turning to the coffee machine, giving him, yet again, a lovely view of her ass (that he wasn't looking at) as she danced around to a song that only she could hear.


	2. Chapter 2

Freya flopped onto her bed, ready to hide from the world for the rest of the day. Her apartment on the third floor of her building, above the dojo above the flower shop was nicely decorated, with two bedrooms and a stylish living area, and an up-to-date kitchen to boot. Her master was decently sized, though a California King took up most of the space in it. As she flopped onto her extremely comfy bed, she reflected on the day.   
Today had been slightly less disastrous than she thought it would be after Kandomere arrived. That might have been because of the half bottle of vodka she downed, she was slightly buzzed the whole time. She had left about an hour after he arrived, giving Adalira some time alone with her son.  
The thing that surprised her the most, was Kandomere, as she was leaving, asking for her number, pulling out his extremely expensive smartphone. She had stuttered her number before scrambling to her car and driving away.   
Just as Freya had settled into her bed with her laptop on her lap, her phone buzzed with a text message. She groaned, she had dumped it on the wardrobe across the room, and really did not want to get up. When her phone buzzed again, she snapped her laptop closed, flinging it on the other side of the bed, and crawled off the bed. Standing and storming over to her phone, she snatched it a crawled back into the bed. Looking at her phone, she was perplexed to see a text from an unknown number. She unlocked her phone with her (excessive) ten digit code, and went into her messages section.  
Today, 5:13  
***-***-**** : Hello, is this Freya?  
Today, 5:20  
***-***-**** : It has occured to me that you don’t have my number, this is Kandomere.  
FUUUUCK. She didn’t think he’d actually contact her! What the hell was she supposed to say?  
“Okay, it’s fine,” she whispered to herself. “Don’t freak out, don’t freak out, don’t freak-” her phone buzzed again. “OKAY SCREW IT TIME TO FREAK OUT!” she yelled. Freya sighed, unlocking her phone once again, she glanced at the new message.  
***-***-**** : My mother asked me to return the muffin tray, do you mind telling me your address?  
DOUBLE FUCK! She added his number to her contacts, and then started to type, backspacing around 15 times before finally being satisfied with her answer. Hitting send, she anxiously picked at her cuticles, a nervous habit.  
***-***-**** : Yes this is Freya, and my address is 211 Porpoise Street, Orc Sector, LA  
He knew she lived in the orc sector, but that didn’t make it any less nerve wracking. That gorget he wore did nothing to make her feel better. Her phone buzzed once more, and she was glad to see that this was not Kandomere. However once she read the message, she was no longer relieved.  
Mikey : Freya, we’re outside, wya?  
The universe just hated her today. Of course she forgot that she was running a class today. She threw on her workout clothes, booking it down to the front of her building. Throwing open the door, she smiled, seeing her favorite orc boys. Mikey, Jacob, Harry, and Brendon. She also saw the usual girls that attended her self defense classes. Hannah, Jamie, and Susanne. Leading the kids through the shop and up the stairs, she stood in the center of the room.   
“Alright guys and gals, where did we leave off last time?” she asked.   
Around 45 minutes into the hour and a half class, her phone rang.   
“Okay, let’s take a ten minute break,” she called, picking up her phone, and answering without checking the caller ID.  
“Hello?” she answered.  
“Hello Freya, I’m outside of your building,” the voice of Kandomere came from her phone.  
“Shit,” she mumbled.  
“What?”  
“Nothing! Sorry, I’ll be right down,” she said, then turned to the kids who were nailing the punching bags. “Hey! Don’t break the new shit on the first day!” and with that she rushed downstairs, hanging up the phone. Flinging open the door to the flower show, she groaned. Dorghu was trying to intimidate Kandomere, and she wasn’t sure who was going to throw the first punch, but she didn’t want to find out either.  
“Alright, that’s enough of a testosterone fest,” she said, going in between the two alpha males. Turning to Dorghu, she pointed at Kandomere. “He’s just bringing something I forgot at Adalira’s, chill,” and then Freya turned to Kandomere. “And you, seriously? Mr. I work for the MTF and I still take the bait with orc posturing?!” she rolled her eyes. “Both of you, come up,” she turned around to go back up to the dojo. The men exchanged glances and followed her up.  
Once they were upstairs, the kids turned to size up the new arrivals. Freya clapped her hands once. “Alright, so,” she trailed off, realizing that Kandomere was in her dojo. She quickly shook her head, regaining her focus. “Instead of having that turn into some random street brawl, you’re gonna release your aggression in a controlled environment.” she turned to Dorghu. “Alright Dorghu, hit me with your best shot,” she smirked.

Kandomere’s eyes widened. What was happening? First, Freya calls him out with information he had no idea she knew about him, then she’s telling a male orc, who is easily 6’5’’, mind you, to hit her. Now Kandomere was not short, standing at about 6 feet tall, he was slightly taller than the average human male, but Dorghu, as he now knew the orc was called, was huge.  
Freya turned to the other orcs in the dojo, all teenagers. “Make sure you watch carefully, especially you Mikey, watch your dad, then watch me,” Kandomere was just staring with his jaw dropped. “And Kandomere,” she turned to him. “You’ll catch flies,” and with that Dorghu threw the first swing. She blocked the punch easily, and the one after that, and after that, loosing no ground, and once there was an opening she threw a kick at Dorghu’s rib cage. Kandomere’s jaw dropped even more when Dorghu hunched over, grunting in pain. Freya jumped up and onto Dorghu’s shoulders, wrapping her legs around his neck as Dorghu righted himself. Dorghu grabbed her hands and flipped her onto the ground, she landed with a thud, and Kandomere stepped forward, ready to go to her aid, but one of the teenage orcs, a girl who’s name he didn’t catch, grabbed his arm, shaking her head. He snapped his arm out of her hold, but stayed in the same spot, no longer going to help Freya.   
Said human did a bridge to quickly get up before Dorghu’s boot could come down, kicking his face before getting onto her feet. Dorghu swung at her temple, and she ducked, going under his arm and pushing him forward. As he stumbled she got him into a choke hold, legs around his waist so he couldn’t sweep her, and after a couple seconds of fumbling around, Dorghu laughed and tapped out.   
Kandomere was in awe. This human was an amazing fighter, and this orc, instead of throwing a fit about being bested by a human female, laughed. What the hell was happening?!   
Freya then turned to him, motioning him over with her finger. He slowly approached her, not completely sure what was going to happen now.  
“Alright, your turn!” she smiled. He startled. Glancing around the room, he stood up a little straighter.  
“I’d rather keep my dignity, thank you,” she laughed. A throw your head back, eyes closed laugh.  
“Well, that’s not the attitude you want to have going into a fight,” she smiled. She started to circle him, analyzing his figure. He was hyper aware of where her eyes were, and he found himself wondering if his body was up to her standards. That thought was quickly crushed, of course he was. Elves are naturally much more fit than humans. He also thought it was preposterous to think she would judge anyone based on their body, she was chubby, yet it seemed like she was very active. He shook his head, seeing that she was in front of him again. She looked beautiful, in a sports bra and leggings and clearly in her element. He noticed a line of tattoos going down her ribcage. Each had initials, and two dates under them. There was also a gemini sign on her collarbone, and he noticed a patch of red on her hip, but it was cut off by the leggings. Suddenly, she was moving towards him, very fast, and her fist was coming towards him. He blocked out of instinct, sidestepping to get out of the way.  
“See? No dignity has been damaged yet!” she smirked, coming at him again. Seeing the change in her tactics from defensive to offensive was off putting, she seemed to be good at both. He lost himself in the movements, going through the intricate dance of sparring with her, finding it a little harder to do in his three piece suit and gorget. He could vaguely hear the teenagers cheering for Freya, but he was focused totally on her. The way her body moved, trying to anticipate her next move. She was giving intentional tells, he noticed, and realized that this must be a teaching opportunity for her students. He smirked, showing some pointy teeth, and she faltered. He quickly rushed, but she rolled out of the way just as quickly, reorienting herself. He noticed her foot move slightly, and braced himself, but he was not prepared for her to do a spinning kick in the air, and suddenly he was on the ground, and she was right above him, pinning him to the ground. He smiled slightly, not finding the power within himself to be butthurt about losing, and tapped her arm, signaling his surrender.  
“Time!” she called, and one of the male orc teens stepped forward.  
“Dad was 8 minutes, the elf,” he spat the word elf bitterly. “Was 22 minutes,” his eyes widened. Had it been that long?  
“See?” she gave him a breathtaking smile. “I don’t think any dignity was lost, you just broke the record!” his head tilted.  
“Record?” he asked, confused.

Freya tried not to fangirl over his head tilt. He looked like a puppy. A blue haired, very sexy puppy, but it was still cute. She cleared her throat, walking to the towels, Kandomere following.  
“The previous record of someone lasting against me was around 19 minutes,” she said, and Kandomere stumbled over nothing.  
“Impressive,” he coughed. He was obviously very out of his element. Freya smiled sweetly at him.  
“Alright, guys, class is over, go home!” she laughed as the teenagers whined.  
“What about movie night?” Susanne asked.  
“I thought that was Friday’s?” Freya asked. And Susanne’s cheeks turned purple, the orc girl blushing a little bit.  
“Well, we were hoping we could watch that new one with you tonight? Because the other kids are all seeing it tonight to?” Hannah mumbled. All the teens walked up to her, giving her the biggest puppy dog eyes they could, which admittedly looked a little odd on a bunch of orcs.  
“Alright, okay,” Freya gave. The teens cheered. “Jamie, ask your dad to set up the church,” she said, then leaned over to whisper in her ear. “And tell him I might bring the elf.” Jamie smirked, giving her the eyebrows before pulling the other orcs out the door, grabbing Dorghu on her way out.  
Freya slowly turned to Kandomere, biting her lip nervously.   
“So… um…” she started, and Kandomere cut her off.

He was back in his element, acting smooth, feeling much better once seeing how comfortable she was around the orcs.  
“Movie night?” he asked, and she nodded shyly (read: adorably).  
“If… if you want to, I mean, I get it if you just want to drop the muffin tray and run, especially after that, which was probably really unexpected, but I think you’d like the movie, and um ya know, your mum told me it was your day off so if you wanna go spend it somewhere else that’s totally cool, but the movie nights are always really relaxing. Dorghu sets up this big projector screen in the church and we all bring over a bunch of pillows and blankets and watch whatever movie we voted on. It happens every week if you want to come another time- or say you will as an excuse and then never having anything to-” he cut her off once again, placing a finger to her lips.  
“It sounds great,” he smiled at her reassuringly, showing a little bit of teeth, and he filed away some knowledge for later. She babbles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kandomere’s mind palace  
> Topic : Freya  
> -Nice ass  
> -Insanely good fighter  
> -Adorable  
> -She babbles when nervous


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this one is so short, however the movie night chapter will be very long. I wanted to put the whole movie night into one chapter, so just bear with me for two weeks until I can post the movie night chapter.

Freya dopily smiled at him, then cleared her throat, standing up straighter.  
“Oh… Um… Great!” she grinned. “I need to go change, I’m all sweaty!” she blurted, running up stairs to her apartment. “Feel free to come up,” she shouted over her shoulder at Kandomere, leaving the door to her third floor apartment open. She heard quiet steps coming up the steps as she closed her bedroom door. Changing into a low cut t-shirt with the words “Here to f*cking break hearts” printed in cursive on the front. Also throwing on a pair of leggings, she exited the bedroom, seeing Kandomere awkwardly standing in the doorway of her apartment.  
“Have a seat!” she coaxed, gesturing to one of the extremely comfy (but still luxurious) loveseats. Kandomere gracefully sat, nodding his head. “They probably won’t have the church all set up for another half hour, and it’s only a five minute walk,” she sat down on the other loveseat, across the coffee table from Kandomere. Then she noticed he was still holding the muffin tray, she giggled, standing. Taking the muffin tray from his lap, she walked over to the kitchen.

Kandomere found his eyes, once again, drifting to Freya’s ass as she walked to the kitchen. Which was extremely odd. Kandomere was no prude, he had had his fair share of lovers, however all of them elves, and he was never the one to notice them. It wouldn’t be until after they expressed interest when he would start to notice their more attractive features, but with Freya he found his eyes following the curve of her body, observing the swell of her breasts under that low cut t-shirt she was wearing when she was facing him. Shaking his head, he came back into the land of the living with Freya waving a hand in front of his face.  
“Are you okay?” she asked, putting her face very close to his to scan him. “You zoned out…” she mumbled, freezing for a moment when their eyes met. He knew humans often found his eyes striking, however he expected she would be used to elves distinctly different eyes after growing up with them. She quickly snapped out of her small trance. “Oh! Are you tired? Damn it, I should’ve been more considerate,” she muttered standing up straight, leaving Kandomere eye-level with her rather large breasts. “Are you too tired for movie night? Would you like to leave? Or would you like me to make you some tea?” She quickly began to fuss over him, and while Kandomere was touched, this was not the reason he zoned out. Quickly grabbing her hands, he smirked.  
“I’m fine, just lost in thought,” he explained, and noticed, to his delight, that Freya was blushing. She nodded, standing up, pulling her hands away in the process.  
“Well, um…” she stuttered, cute. “I was wondering if I could get you anything? Tea, coffee, a muffin?” she giggled. Kandomere smiled at her adorableness.  
“I would actually love to try one of your muffins,” he told her, and her face lit up. “My mother kept them all to herself, so I wasn’t able to try one earlier,” before he even finished his sentence, she was running into the kitchen, a skip in her step.  
“Of course! Oh my gosh I bet you’ll love them!” she gushed, and Kandomere’s smile widened. How this woman could go from being a total badass to being adorable was beyond him.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Freya was blushing beyond belief. His eyes...   
She was used to elf eyes, of course, but Kandomere’s... She could stare into them all day and be perfectly content. Shaking her head to clear her mind of those pining thoughts, she took out a muffin, placing it on a plate, and brought it back into the living room, hoping that her blush had gone down.  
Judging by Kandomere’s smirk, it hadn’t.  
Handing him the muffin, she sat back down and pulled out her phone to check the time. They had another 10 minutes before they had to get going. She looked back up from her phone to see Kandomere beaming, and the muffin was gone. Wow…  
“That was delicious!” he told her, and she smiled shyly.  
“I’m glad you liked it!” Freya said, biting her lip a little. Kandomere’s eyes were drawn to the action, however Freya was oblivious.   
Leaning forward, Fredya spoke again. “So, we have 10 minutes, so let’s get to know each other,” she smiled.  
“What would you like to know?” Kandomere asked, doing his sexy/adorable head tilt. Freya blushed. Damn it! She never blushed this much, ever. Recovering, she smirked.  
“The deep stuff,” she said.  
“The deep stuff?” Kandomere rose an eyebrow at her.  
“Yeah!” her smile widened. “Like… favorite color!”

This human was adorable. Kandomere smiled fondly.  
“That’s deep?” he questioned, and Freya nodded.  
“Yeah! The answer to the stereotypical ‘deep’-” here she put finger quotes, “questions are always some BS someone read on the internet. But you can learn a lot about people by knowing the simple things, their likes and dislikes, their favorite animal, favorite song, favorite color…” she trailed off, blushing. “Sorry, that was a lot…” Kandomere shook his head, smiling.  
“I think it was very insightful,” he consoled. “People tend to try and dig so deep into the person they’re getting to know that they forget to ask about the simple things,” Freya beamed, her eyes lighting up, and by god if that wasn’t the most beautiful thing he had ever seen…  
“So what is your favorite color?” she asked. Kandomere smiled again. He seemed to do that a lot around her.  
“Forest green,” he told her.  
“Any particular reason? Or is it just a nice color?” Freya pressed.  
“It reminds me of when my mother would take me up to Oregon, where my father grew up, after he died. She bought a house in the suburbs just outside his home city as soon as her mate sickness faded. Our backyard was all woods and I would play in the woods and try to befriend the fairies and search for gnomes. It would just be my mother and I, no servants, and I always felt a little closer to her after the trips,” he smiled fondly, replaying the memories in his head. Looking to Freya, she was also smiling, looking at him as if he were the most important person in the world. This woman was doing things to him… oh dear.  
“That’s… amazing,” she said. “I honestly didn’t expect that deep an answer,” she laughed a little. “See? Favorite color can be pretty deep!” Kandomere chuckled a little as well.  
“What about your favorite color?” he asked, leaning forward a little. She seemed to think about it for a moment.  
“Hazel, as in the eye color,” she said.   
“Why is that?” Kandomere asked, curious.  
“Well, before I was adopted, before I ran away from the orphanage, the woman who ran the orphanage was honestly who I called mom. She was a sweet old lady with hazel eyes and her hair used to be brown. She died when I was four, but I never forgot her hazel eyes. The next lady that came into the orphanage to run it had cruel black eyes, and they totally fit her,” she paused for a second, sighing, and Kandomere reached across the coffee table to hold her hand, feeling the need to comfort and support her. “She’s the reason I ran away. The orphanage was right on the border of Elf Town, and I ran into my… parents-” she spit out the word. “They really only adopted me for PR reasons. They didn’t even raise me, the help did…” she clenched her fist that was not being held, and Kandomere squeezed her hand.  
“But if they hadn’t adopted you, you never would have met my mother, and you never would have met me, and we probably wouldn’t be sitting here in your apartment talking right now,” he smiled slightly at her, and she gave a small one back. Standing, still holding her hand, he smirked at her. “Now, I believe we have a movie to catch?” Freya was on her feet in an instant, running to put on her shoes, letting go of Kandomere’s hand in the process. He immediately missed the contact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mate sickness is mentioned, so I'll tell you that yes, in this world elves have mates. True mates and Civil mates, elves have one of the two. Adalira and Kandomere's father were civil mates, so Adalira could continue living after his father died, but true mates are different. All will be explained in later chapters...


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so... not as long as I would have hoped, but oh whale...

The walk to the church had been uneventful. At some point during the walk Freya had looped her arm through Kandomere’s blushing heavily but craving the contact too much to care. Kandomere had smirked, but said nothing. When they arrived to the church, Freya let go of Kandomere’s arm, moving a couple steps away from him. Kandomere seemed to unconsciously reach out for her after she moved away, before his arm snapped back to his side. Before he could question her, however, a small orc boy barreled into her.  
“FREYAAAA!” he shouted, wrapping his arms around her as she laughed.  
“Hey Sam! Ready for movie night?” she asked, smiling at the boy, Sam, who was just about as tall as her. He excitedly nodded.  
“Yeah! Dad said I’m allowed to watch PG-13 movies now!” he smiled proudly.  
“Woah!” Freya smiled with a surprised look on her face. “That’s a high honor for an 8-year-old!” she pulled away, giving him a fist bump, before ‘Sam’ turned to look at Kandomere.  
“Are you Freya’s boyfriend?” he asked, with all the innocence of a child. The little shit knew exactly what he was doing though. Freya blushed.  
“Uh… no… that’s… um, not…” she stuttered and Kandomere smiled a little bit.  
“Not yet,” he said, smirking at the boy while glancing at the adorable stuttering mess next to him. Said mess looked like she was about to spontaneously combust. Don’t encourage the little shit! She screamed in her mind.  
“Um… haha… I’m gonna head inside!” she rushed in, blushing. He was joking, right? Harmless flirting? There was no way he’d actually be interested in her! Her mind immediately went to his gorget, which, while he wasn’t wearing when he came to drop off the tray, had their words burned into her mind. Elves above all, above all elves. Her ‘parents’ had always told her so, having their own gorgets, they even had Freya wear one when she was still living with them, a magic binding it to her until they disowned her.  
Running into Jamie, the young orc smirked, snapping Freya out of her sad flashback.  
“Is that blush I see on your cheeks?” she smirked, and Freya shook her head frantically at the teen. Jamie did the eyebrows at her again, and Freya’s blush, which still hadn’t disappeared since walking inside the church, intensified. Damn it.  
“Nope, nah, you’re imagining things,” she laughed nervously, backing up and bumping right into… Dorghu.  
“We’re gonna be invited to the wedding right?” he laughed heartily. “It’d be interesting to see how elves handle weddings!” Freya blushed.  
“Stop it! Guys, elves don’t get married, they have mates…” Freya rolled her eyes. “And do you have any idea how unlikely it is that I’m his?” she shrugged helplessly, slumping onto one of the beanbags. Though… nope, not even entertaining that idea.

Kandomere pondered it. He had been just outside the doorway when Freya had said that. Perhaps… but it would be impossible to know unless he fell in love with her… Until then, he’d play it by (pointy) ear. Walking in, he looked around. The orcs and human looked up at him, human smiling, orcs smirking. Scratch that, human nervously smiling with an extremely red face, while slumped on a bean bag, orcs teasingly smirking.  
“Dorghu,” Kandomere greeted, and the tall orc nodded.  
“Elf,” he acknowledged. Sam came running in.  
“Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Dad! Da-”  
“What Sam?” Dorghu laughed, and Sam smiled.  
“Why were-” he cut himself off when he looked at Freya. “-are Freya’s cheeks red? Is that a human thing?” Freya’s cheeks reddened even further, to which the corner of Kandomere’s lips tilted up. Dorghu threw his head back and laughed heartily, clapping a hand on Freya’s shoulder. She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to look intimidating, but Kandomere, even after seeing her fight and fighting her, couldn’t see her as anything but cute.  
“This isn’t fair…” she muttered, before violently turning to point a finger at Kandomere. His eyes widened. “They’re supposed to be on my side! What did you pay them?” he laughed.  
“I didn’t pay them, though this has been pretty quality entertainment…” He might actually consider paying them if they made Freya blush like that every time he was around.  
“Uh… haha…” Freya let out a forced laugh, before shifting her gaze to Dorghu. “MOVIE! Yes, movie! We were planning on watching a movie! Is it all set up?” she asked, and Kandomere realized his smile hadn’t left his face since they had left the apartment.   
Dorghu nodded. “It’s all set up, blankets, projector, pillows, the lot,” she nodded.  
“Let’s go!” Freya’s hand somehow found Kandomere’s again, dragging him over to the area where everything was set up. Kandomere’s eyes widened, seeing a projector screen, and blankets and pillows strewn about the whole area. At least 20 orcs filled the space, along with 5 or 6 humans, occupying most of the blankets. “Come on then! We’ll take my usual spot!” Freya kept moving, over to a corner where there was a giant pillow fort set up. “Amazing, isn’t it?” she asked him, and Kandomere decided to not tell her he had never made or been in the presence of a pillow fort. “I built it a while ago, and they’ve never taken it down, one of my best creations!’ she was so proud of herself, beaming with her chest puffed out, Kandomere couldn’t help it.  
“Adorable,” he muttered, and Freya turned to him, apparently he was quiet enough that she hadn’t heard him.  
“Sorry what?” she asked, and he smiled at her.  
“Oh, I was just saying your muffins might compete for that spot,” Kandomere smirked, and Freya blushed, swatting his arm.   
“Hush and sit down, the movie’s bout to start,” she grumbled, pulling him down onto the pillows. Kandomere landed with an ‘oof’. 

Freya was tired. Kandomere was really hot. Freya was unsure how to handle her situation. Kandomere was sitting so close to Freya that they were basically touching, and Freya was very tempted to, once the movie started, snuggle up with him. Deciding that would be weird and he was definitely not into her as much as she was into him.   
Kandomere was watching the movie with a puzzled look on his face. Freya wasn’t surprised, it was a low budget orc movie that had just come out. The plot was amazing, but wasn’t very well executed.  
“It’s not supposed to be taken seriously,” she whispered to him, and Kandomere looked down at her, raising a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “It’s so awful that we just laugh at how awful it is,” she explained, and Kandomere’s brows furrowed.  
“Why would someone make a movie like that?” he asked her, and Freya giggled.  
“Because it sells,” she smiled, booping his nose. Kandomere’s confused face morphed into one of surprise. Freya blushed. “Sorry…” she muttered, starting to scooch away, but Kandomere slung his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side.  
“It’s quite alright,” he smiled at her, and Freya nodded, looking very much like a deer in the headlights. They fell into a content silence, watching the movie together, when Kandomere thought to ask her another question. “Are there other movies like that?” he asked, and Freya turned to him, smirking. She spent the next 10 minutes quietly explaining the Sharknado series to him, and how they kept making more, and people kept seeing them, kept paying to watch them, even though they were so. stupid.

About an hour into the movie, Kandomere glanced over at Freya, who had at some point cuddled into his side, and noticed that she had fallen asleep. He smirked, and, unable to resist, placed a kiss on the crown of her head. He had enjoyed hearing her talk about those Sharknado movies, not that he understood much of what she said, just she was so adorable, her frustration seeming like a bunny who just had a carrot taken from her.  
When the movie ended, Kandomere went to wake Freya, when Dorghu stopped him.  
“I wouldn’t,” he said. Kandomere looked over at him, giving him a look as if to ask ‘what?’.  
“She has insomnia, it’s a miracle she fell asleep,” he explained. “I can carry her back to her apartment,” Dorghu went to pick Freya up, but Kandomere beat him to it.   
“I can do it,” he said, cradling her close to his chest. Elves were much stronger than humans, so Kandomere could carry Freya easily. He noted a soft smile on her face as she snuggled into his chest. Dorghu nodded.  
“Just know, elf,” Dorghu started, and Kandomere looked back at him. “You break her heart, I break you, no matter the consequences,” Kandomere’s eyes widened.  
“I’ll help!” the orc girl from earlier said, crossing her arms.  
“I give you my full permission, if I ever hurt her,” Kandomere said softly, looking down at the human in his arms.The thought passed his mind that it was odd how attached he was to her after less than 12 hours.  
Once he got her home, Kandomere gently put Freya down on her couch, feeling that it would be an invasion of privacy if he went into her bedroom. Leaving a note on her coffee table, he moved back over to the short human woman. Her brow was furrowed, and she was curled up on herself.  
“Buenas noches, mi alma,” Kandomere murmured, placing a kiss on her forehead, seeing her face smooth out, a small smile taking over, before heading out. It only occurred to him once he was back to his apartment, laying in bed, what he had called her.  
My soul.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kandomere gets grilled by his gay best friend, and he has a date tonight

When Freya woke, she was on her couch, smiling, and snuggling into the pillows. A blanket had been carefully draped over her, and she felt well rested for the first time in ages.  
Sitting up and swiping her lavender hair out of her face, she looked around and saw a note on her coffee table. Picking it up, she noticed the swooping, elegant letters, distinctly not Dorghu’s handwriting.   
I hope you slept well. I would have put you on your bed, but I didn’t want to invade your privacy. I really enjoyed the movie, and I was hoping you’d join me tonight to watch these ‘Sharknado’ movies you told me so much about. -Kandomere  
Freya let out a rather unlady-like squeal, smiling ear-to-ear. Shooting up from the couch, she rifled through her pockets and pulled out her phone. Looking at the time Freya’s eyes widened, it was almost noon! She never slept that late even when she was able to sleep!   
Smile never leaving her face, Freya opened her messages and shot a text to Kandomere.  
***-***-**** : I look forward to educating you on the stupidity of American film!  
Freya looked at her reflection in the mirror, seeing a bright-eyed, smiling young woman who she barely recognized. This elf is going to kill me! It was so strange, having barely known him 24 hours and she was already enamoured with him. Feeling her phone buzz, she quickly picked it up, opening her messages again.  
Kandyman : I look forward to being educated ;)  
Cheeky bastard, sending a winky face. Even as she thought it, she was blushing. Unable to stop smiling, Freya opened the door and walked down to the first floor, where her flower shop was. Flipping the OPEN sign, she wandered behind the counter, texting Kandomere one last time.  
***-***-**** : I close up shop around 5, so I’ll need to clean up a bit and call a cab, I’ll probably be in Elf town around 6:30 if that’s alright with you?  
Remembering she had no idea where in Elf town Kandomere lived, Freya typed in one more text.  
***-***-**** : What’s your address btw?

Kandomere woke up at his usual time of 6 am, having work that Friday. Stretching and wandering into his ensuite, he turned the shower on before glancing in the mirror. What he saw surprised him. He was grinning without even noticing. His grin widened even more when he thought of the reason. Freya.  
Once Kandomere was at the MTF office, Montehugh met him at the door to his office.  
“Hey bo-” he cut himself off. “What the hell happened to you on your day off?” he asked incredulously. Kandomere rose an eyebrow.  
“What are you talking about?” he asked.  
“Boss, you’re smiling,” Montehugh said as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen.  
“And?” Kandomere prompted, opting to not tell Montehugh about Freya, he’d never hear the end of it. The elf with a stick up his ass, crushing on a human! He didn’t need that.  
“Right, yeah, totally normal,” Montehugh rose a bushy eyebrow, as if to tell Kandomere that this conversation wasn’t over. They walked into his office, and Kandomere sat down in front of his desk, Kandomere taking the seat behind it.   
“So… what?” Montehugh asked, and Kandomere just glanced at him. “Did you have the best lay of your life? Beat up a whole gang of orcs? Splurge on something amazing?” Kandomere smirked a little, shaking his head a little.  
“Any news on the cult sacrifice case?” he asked, ignoring his partner. Said partner rolled his eyes.  
“This conversation isn’t over, but yes,” he sighed. “We have three suspects in custody, and that expert we called in, the centaur? He says we should be looking for five more based on the scorch marks and runes used in the ritual sights,” suddenly he was all business, explaining the developments in the case. “Special Agent Geer’tah is leading a team to apprehend another suspect, and we have to interrogate the other three. They’ve been in lock up a little over 8 hours,” Kandomere stood, grabbing the case file with the pictures they needed, and briskly walked to the elevator that would take them to the third floor, where the holding cells and interrogation rooms were.  
“Shall we?” he asked, and Montehugh nodded.  
“Sure, and maybe you’ll tell me why you walked in this morning with that weird ass smile,”

Kandomere had just finished interrogating the last suspect, having gotten confessions from all three of the ones brought in, and two more names. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out, smiling when he saw the name above the message.  
Norse Goddess(?) : I look forward to educating you on the stupidity of American film!  
Kandomere’s smile widened when he realized that was her way of accepting his invitation. Typing a response, still smiling, he decided to be a little flirty. It wouldn’t hurt, right?  
***-***-**** : I look forward to being educated ;)  
Putting his phone back in his pocket, Kandomere walked to Montehugh, who was waiting in the elevator.  
“Oh no, the smile’s back,” he smirked, and Kandomere shook his head.  
“You met someone, didn’t you?” Montehugh asked, and Kandomere rolled his eyes. “You did!” he basically shouted it, and Kandomere flinched a bit, before deciding to appease Montehugh.  
“Yes, I did,” he said simply. Montehugh laughed.  
“Well? I need details, man!” sometimes Kandomere forgot that Montehugh was the stereotypical gay best friend, due to his hard-ass way of pushing suspects, but it was moments like this where Kandomere was reminded.  
“Do you?” he asked, and Montehugh groaned. Kandomere’s phone buzzed again, and he pulled it out.  
Norse Goddess(?) : I close up shop around 5, so I’ll need to clean up a bit and call a cab, I’ll probably be in Elf town around 6:30 if that’s alright with you?  
Kandomere was about to type out a response saying that he could pick her up on his way home from work, but Montehugh snatched the phone out of his hands.  
“NORSE GODDESS?!” he shouted, before promptly laughing his ass off. Kandomere pouted. “THAT’S HILARIOUS! OH MY GOD I NEED AIR….” Kandomere rolled his eyes again, he was doing a lot of that today.  
“Are you quite done?” he asked, and Montehugh let out one more short laugh before nodding.  
“Why the question mark?” he asked, and Kandomere felt a little heat rising to his cheeks. Not that he’d even admit it.  
“Well, her name is Freya,” he explained. “And I wasn’t sure if it was after the norse goddess Freya or not,” and Montehugh smirked.  
“Uh huh,” he said like a little shit. “And…? What’s she like? Do you think she’s your mate?” Kandomere shrugged.  
“I don’t know, I won’t know unless I fall in love with her-”  
“Which you’re well on your way to doing,” Kandomere shot him a glare.  
“As for what she’s like, she’s… well, something,” he paused, gathering his thoughts about her before smiling. “She’s a beautiful human girl, and a very skilled martial artist-”  
“Did you say human?!” Montehugh shouted again, by now they were back in Kandomere’s office.  
“Yes, Ulysses, she’s human, now can I continue?” Montehugh sobered himself, nodding. “She’s extremely amusing and smart, but at the same time she has this aura of innocence and when she smiles it’s like you’re the only person in the world and she’s just.... Wonderful,” he sighed, and Montehugh had his jaw dropped.  
“Pussy-whipped,” he muttered, and Kandomere snapped his head back to look at him.  
“Shut up,” he murmured, crossing his arms.  
“Dude, I think you’re already in love with her,” Kandomere’s eyes widened.  
“I don’t think so,” he shook his head, and Montehugh held his phone out to him.  
“She texted again,” Kandomere snatched the phone quickly, opening it and smiling at her message, even though it was nothing significant.  
Norse Goddess(?) : What’s your address btw?  
“Yeah, totally not in love,” Montehugh rolled his eyes, walking out and to his own office. Kandomere quickly texted a reply once he couldn’t see Montehugh through the window in the door.  
***-***-**** : I can just pick you up on my way home from work if that’s alright?  
***-***-**** : It’d be around 6?  
Kandomere leaned back in his chair, not at all anxiously waiting for a response. His phone buzzed and he did not jump, not at all.  
Norse Goddess(?) : That’d actually be great if you’re sure you don’t mind?  
His smile didn’t leave as he sent her a text back.  
***-***-**** : Not at all  
In fact, he wasn’t sure his smile left at all from that moment to when he got in his car at the end of the day.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will be having surgery tomorrow so I decided to post this today.  
> Also, sorry I didn't post two weeks ago, school has been crazy and my health hasn't been helping...

After Freya finished up work around 5 o’clock, she flipped the OPEN sign so it said ‘CLOSED’ and went up the stairs to her apartment. Looking down at herself, she noticed the dirt all over her clothes and all over her arms. Freya groaned, turning on her playlist titled ‘Jammin’ and hopped in the shower. Surprisingly, the water pressure was divine despite being in a kind of run down building. There may or may not have been a couple upgrades using her ex-adoptive-parents’ bank account. She didn’t even think they noticed, as the upgrades all together were the cost of their coffee machine.   
Scrubbing in her ‘color-saving’ shampoo, Freya reflected on the events of today and yesterday. Mainly the events that involved snuggling up with Kandomere during the movie and… that’s enough reflecting. Reflecting on Kandomere, she realised, meant falling for him, and that was a no go. Every 1 in 7 million elves had a mate that wasn’t an elf, and that made her chances of being his… very slim. Math was not her forte.  
Once Freya got out of the shower, the debate started on what to wear. Obviously not something formal, they were just watching movies at his place and she didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard. At the same time she didn’t think it was wise to go in sweatpants and a tank-top, making it seem like she didn’t care at all. At the end of a 10 minute discussion with herself that Freya wasn’t sure was completely in her head, her outfit was decided. A dark blue tunic that was fitted around her breasts and then splayed out around her torso a some leggins with a floral print. Hearing her text tone go off, Freya jumped. Unlocking it, she saw a text.  
Kandyman : I’m outside, are you ready?  
Freya threw on her tan moccasins while awkwardly texting back one-handed.  
***-***-**** : Coming down now  
Freya booked it down the stairs, slipping on a puddle just outside the door before she could lock it. Falling forwards, Freya let out a shout before said shout was muffled by a chest and she was encircled in some very warm, strong, suit-clad arms.  
“You should be more careful,” a deep voice said, and she felt the chest her face was on rumble. Looking up, Freya was met with Kandomere. Eyes widening, she went to move away when the arms tightened around her. “Are you alright?” he asked, peering into her face with those eyes that she thought were the most spectacular things she had ever seen.  
“Uh… yeah,” she nodded, staring up at him with wide eyes.

Kandomere was totally enamoured with this girl. She had just come running out of her building, and fallen straight into his arms. He momentarily panicked when she pulled away, wanting to hold her a bit longer, but recovered quickly, asking if she was alright. When she looked up at him with her For the first time in his life, Kandomere felt his face heat up in what must have been a blush.   
Realizing that he had held on to her for a bit longer than could’ve been classified as just making sure she was alright, Kandomere let her go, backing away from her.  
Freya smiled shyly, and Kandomere noted that when she smiled like that she looked so much younger, more innocent. Kandomere smirked at her.  
“Hello,” he greeted, and she nodded at him.  
“Hi,” she said back, biting her lip. Kandomere was overcome with the urge to kiss her, but fought it back with a shake of his head.  
“Shall we?” he motioned to his beautiful black Jaguar F Type that was parked a little ways down the street, and Freya smiled widely.  
“We shall,” she took his hand, walking a little ahead of him. Kandomere was a little fed up with himself for always admiring her ass, but he really couldn’t help it, especially in those leggings… Okay that’s enough of that. “Coming?” she turned around, smiling cutely at him. Oh dear… her tunic fit a little tightly around her chest, and it took a lot of his will power to bring his gaze back up to her face. When he did however, she was blushing heavily. “Is my outfit… okay? I mean, I’m pretty sure it isn’t inappropriate unless like-” oh dear. Once again she seemed to be oblivious to the effect she had on him.  
“No, you look beautiful,” her blush deepened. “I was just lost in thought,” he led her to his car, letting go of her hand to open the passenger side door. He tried to ignore the way his hand felt empty without the weight of her’s, keyword tried. Her blush was still present on her face when she got in the car, and Kandomere decided he would endeavor to make her blush more often.   
Once they were on the road, Freya gasped. “Oh my god! I love this song! Can I turn the radio up?” she turned her pleading eyes to Kandomere, and now Kandomere understood why humans could say that someone that wasn’t a puppy had puppy eyes. He smirked, nodding. Freya let out an adorable squeal before turning up the music, singing along.  
“Pray for the wicked on the weekend! Mama can I get another amen? Woah-oh-oh oh, it’s Saturday night!” She was dancing in her seat, her body moving sexily but she seemed to be unaware of that. She kept singing the song, Say Amen by Panic! At the Disco. Kandomere had heard this song before, he considered pop music his rebellion to his family when he was an elf equivalent to a teenager in the 80’s, and then continued to like it through adulthood. He noticed that Freya, despite her belting out the lyrics in a car, had a beautiful voice.  
Once the song had finished and went into another one, this one by Train, Freya turned to him.  
“I totally didn’t peg you as someone who would listen to a pop radio station!” she smiled, her eyes sparkling, and Kandomere knew she was just teasing him.  
“A guilty pleasure,” he sighed, shrugging his shoulders. “I admit it,” he smirked at her as she giggled, deciding he liked that sound.  
“Don’t worry, hun, I won’t tell anyone,” Kandomere side eyed her, as he had to continue to watch the road. He rose an eyebrow.  
“Hun?” he asked.

Freya blushed. Oops…  
“Sorry, um, I just… sorry,” she stammered, and Kandomere reached over to her lap and put his hand over hers.   
“It’s fine, call me whatever petname your heart desires,” he smiled at her reassuringly before pulling into the garage of his building. “As long as I can do the same to you,”  
“Oh! Yeah!” Freya’s blush deepened. She’d let him call her anything honestly as long as she got to hear his (very sexy) voice. “Of course,” As soon as Kandomere parked Freya was out of the car. Kandomere took his time, walking over to her and offering her his arm like they were going to some posh party.  
Looping her arm through his Freya smiled, allowing him to lead her to the elevator. The elevator with literal gold doors. Oh dear…   
Once in the elevator, Kandomere pushed the button to the top floor, waving his key fob over a black box. The light on the box turned green and they started to go up. Freya realized that Kandomere’s apartment was the frickin penthouse! Freya knew she shouldn’t feel intimidated, knowing she grew up like this, but she was never comfortable with wealth. Wealth meant power, which almost always meant abuse of said power. Freya was pretty confident that Kandomere wasn’t like that, but she was still kind of anxious.  
The doors opened with a *ding* and Freya’s mouth dropped at the floor to ceiling windows on an entire wall of Kandomere’s living area. The space was open concept, and looking to her left once they walked in Freya saw a beautiful kitchen with appliances worth more than most apartments in LA. Looking back at Kandomere, she saw his beautiful smile as he gestured to the sofa. It was huge and had so many soft blankets piled on it. Freya rose her eyebrow at the blankets and Kandomere cleared his throat.  
“I set them out this morning after I asked you to come over,” he explained, and Freya nodded, smiling shyly.  
“So…” she trailed off. “Do you even own the Sharknado DVDs?” she asked, and Kandomere lifted a plastic bag that she had not noticed was in his hand.  
“Bought them before I picked you up,” he smirked, and she gasped.  
“THEM? YOU BOUGHT ALL FIVE?!” she exclaimed, facepalming. Kandomere’s smirk fell into a confused face.  
“Yes?”  
“Kandomere sweetie,” she started, missing his blush at the pet name. “After one movie, the novelty of it being a horrible funny one wears off,” she sighed, smiling and shaking her head at him.  
“Oh,” Kandomere said simply. Freya giggled, bumping her hip to his.  
“You goof!” she started to laugh. “Maybe we’ll watch the rest during different movie nights.”  
“So there will be more?” Kandomere sported a shit eating grin, trying to get her to blush, which succeeded.  
“If you want there to be…” she looked down, and Kandomere grabbed her chin between his thumb and forefinger.  
“I’d love there to be,” he smiled, melting Freya’s heart. They stared into each other’s eyes, going silent, but the moment was ended by a buzz coming from Kandomere’s pocket. They jumped apart, Kandomere fishing for his phone.

Ulysses : How’s the date?  
Kandomere sighed. “Sorry, a coworker of mine is being a little shit,” he shook his head, and started typing a reply. Looking up to see Freya gaping at him with wide eyes. “What?”  
“You sweared!” she laughed. “Sorry, I just totally did not expect you to be okay with swearing,” she finally calmed down, and Kandomere smirked.  
“Of course I’m fucking okay with swearing,” he chuckled and Freya shook her head.  
“That’s just extra hun,” she giggled, flopping onto the couch. Kandomere was finding himself really liking the pet names she was giving him. Which was odd, he usually hated nicknames and that stuff. Hitting send, Kandomere joined his norse goddess on the couch.  
***-***-**** : It was going great you ass  
***-***-**** : Until I almost kissed her and you texted before I could  
Kandomere turned off his phone, throwing it on the coffee table. He did not want his partner to do any more damage, after poking fun at him all day and then this text.  
Freya sighed, already piled under some of the blankets, and Kandomere settled further into the couch. Then Freya giggled. Kandomere turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow.  
“You forgot to put the DVD in,” she smirked, throwing off the blankets and shivering at the loss of warmth. Kandomere sighed, pushing himself up off the couch as well. Freya went into his kitchen, asking over her shoulder if he had any popcorn.  
“In the cabinet on the left of the microwave,” he said, and then laughed as he saw Freya hold up both hands in an L shape. That’s adorable, she doesn’t know her left from her right. Once she figured out which one was left, she reached into the cabinet and pulled out two bags of popcorn, throwing one in the microwave. Kandomere busied himself with putting the DVD in the player, pointedly avoiding looking at Freya’s figure as she stood on her tiptoes to reach the popcorn button on the microwave. Once the DVD was in the player, Kandomere walked over to join Freya in the kitchen. Brushing past her, his hand touching her lower back so he could get by her to the fridge. There was plenty of space for him to scooch by, but she didn’t need to know that.   
Kandomere basked in the shiver and the barely noticeable sigh Freya let out when his hand made contact, allowing the warmth that reached his hand through her tunic to calm his nerves a bit. Grabbing a Mike’s hard lemonade for Freya, and a beer for himself, he settled back on the couch and waited for Freya to come back and join him.  
Holding a huge bowl of popcorn Freya plopped down next to Kandomere once again, gasping once she saw the Mike’s.  
“How did you know my favorite?!” Freya asked, reaching over to hug him before immediately letting go. Before she could pull back, Kandomere could see she was a little embarrassed, his arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back to his chest.  
“I may or may not have talked to my mother during the day and had her drop off your favorite alcohol…” he was glad Freya’s face was currently on his chest so she couldn’t see his blush.  
“Awe,” she cooed, snuggling further into his chest and pulling the blankets over him. “That right there earned you extra cuddle points,” she paused. “Plus you’re really warm and comfy.” Kandomere smirked, tightening his arms around her and leaning his head down to brush his lips over her hair, subtly scenting her. It was an elf thing, making your partners smell like you so other elves and races with the same keen sense of smell would know they were taken. In the back of his mind Kandomere knew that he should really ask her if they could be exclusive before doing this, but he found that he couldn’t help himself. This pull to her was getting stronger, and he was pretty sure that he had never fallen for anyone this fast before. Now that he thought about it, he had never fallen for anyone romantically…  
“Let’s watch that movie shall we?” Freya asked, and Kandomere nodded.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Late... again, I'm so sorry!

After Sharknado had ended, and the credits were rolling on screen, Kandomere looked down at Freya, the little Norse Goddess was laying basically in his lap with her head on his chest. She seemed to be falling asleep, but Kandomere wasn’t quite ready to say goodnight yet. He looked down at her with an inquisitive look on his face.  
“You looked surprised,” he said, and Freya blinked sleepily.   
“Huh?” she asked, raising her head a little bit, and Kandomere smiled a bit at the sight of her hooded eyes and adorable confused expression.  
“When I would laugh, you looked surprised,” he explained, raising an eyebrow at her. Jokingly he added on, “Do I seem so humorless?”. Freya’s eyes widened, and she stuttered out a reply, a blush becoming just visible on her cheeks. The room was pretty dark now, the sun having gone down and they had the lights off for the movie, but Kandomere thanked his heightened elf senses that he was able to see the dusting of pink on her cheeks. He also thanked the fact that Freya didn’t notice that he openly admitted to watching her during the movie.  
“OH!” Freya gasped. “No! No! It’s just your mum always talked about how serious you were,” at serious she made a face. “And she talked about how dedicated to the MTF you were and… I don’t know, she just painted a picture of you as this all business, never cracks a smile kind of guy,” she paused, looking pensive. “But I think she was just so proud of your work that she wanted to highlight your achievements, ya know, ‘check out my son and his bad self’” Freya explained, giggling a little at the last bit. Kandomere, however, zoned in on a certain part of her explanation.  
“You two would… talk about me?” he asked, raising his eyebrows with a smirk. Freya’s blush intensified as she looked back down.  
“Um… well…” Freya looked so flustered, and Kandomere decided just then: Restraint be damned, she’s too fucking adorable. Of course, that could also have a little something to do with him being on his fifth beer of the night. Elves’ alcohol tolerance are higher than a human’s, but five was pushing it for him to stay sober. Kandomere gave Freya a quick kiss on the nose, and she froze, her nose twitching like a bunny’s, and looked back up at him with wide eyes.  
“Don’t worry,” he purred. “My mother’s a chatterbox,” Freya nodded slowly, before hiding her face back in his chest. “Freya?” he asked, smiling fondly at the human, and said human squeaked.  
“Freya’s not here right now, please leave a message after the beep,” A pause. “Beeeeeep,” she said in a high pitched voice. Kandomere laughed at her adorableness.  
“What’s the matter, querida?” he asked, deciding to give her a taste of her own pet name medicine. Another squeak followed, and the girl burrowed further into his chest, her lavender hair tickled under his chin, causing him to chuckle a bit.  
Before they started the movie, Kandomere had changed into a V-neck t-shirt and some more comfortable pants, so right now Freya’s face was on the bare part of his chest, something Kandomere was painfully aware of. Taking his hands from her lower back, where his arms had encircled her, Kandomere sought out her face, cupping her cheek. Slowly, Freya’s head rose, eyes still wide, and when their eyes met, she froze again. Kandomere wasn’t much better himself, staring intensely into her grey eyes, and then he was kissing her. He was kissing her, and she was kissing him back. His arms circled around her again,   
pulling her body ever closer to his, and his chest filled with warmth. He knew, in that moment, that not only was Freya his mate, but he was already in love with her.

Once Kandomere pulled away, Freya stayed in the exact same spot, looking up at him. His eyes were practically glowing and Freya felt her heart swell as her body filled with warmth. Unable to deny the feeling that had been creeping up on her since Adalira introduced them, Freya finally admitted to herself that she was in love.  
Kandomere grinned at her, and Freya suddenly couldn’t breathe, his smile was beautiful. His sharp canines poked out from behind his lips and Freya timidly smiled back.  
“Wow,” Freya breathed, unable to really think out an intelligible phrase.  
“Wow is right, mi alma,” Kandomere responded, leaning down to peck her lips. Freya suddenly jerked up into a sitting position as a slight burning sensation started on her right side, just below her breast. Kandomere jerked up as well, and they both pulled up their shirts to view the area. Freya gasped, looking at the words forming on her rib cage. Wow is right, mi alma.   
“Oh my god!” She turned to look at Kandomere, seeing the word Wow on his ribs. They were mates! She was his mate! Remembering something from her elf culture class that her ex-parents had forced her to take, Freya gasped again. If the words are on the right side of the body, the mates are what are called ‘True Mates’. If the words are on the left side, the mates are ‘Civil Mates’. Having a true mate is a much more instinctual, carnal bond, the pair not really being able to live without each other, actually sharing each other’s life force. Civil mates are less tied to each other, acting much more like human partners.  
“Well hello there, my lovely mate,” Kandomere said, smirking at her, and Freya’s mouth opened and closed like a fish, before Kandomere pulled her back into a much more passionate kiss, and her hands flew to the base of his neck, gripping his hair like a lifeline.  
Sadly, their lovely kiss was broken by a yawn escaping Freya’s mouth. Kandomere chuckled against her lips, giving her a soft peck.  
“Sleep, mi alma, you need your rest,” she nodded sleepily, her eyes already drooping.  
“We still need to talk about this,” she mumbled, but wasn’t sure how much longer she could stay awake.  
“In the morning, love,” Kandomere kissed her forehead as she nuzzled into his neck, placing an innocent kiss on his jaw, before falling asleep.

Kandomere smiled fondly at his mate, ignoring the small spike of arousal that had risen in him from the kisses. "Goodnight, my love,".


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! I'm sorry I left but I had to make an outline so that I can update regularly...

When Freya woke up, the first thing she noticed was that her pillow was breathing, and very muscled. The second thing she noticed was that her face seemed to be stuck in a smile. She lifted her head, looking lazily around Kandomere’s apartment, however she could move no further than that, because as soon as Freya went to get up further, Kandomere’s arms tightened around her waist. In a low grumble Kandomere purred in Freya’s ear. “It’s too early, querida,”. He then nuzzled further into her neck, placing a sloppy open-mouthed kiss in the nook between her neck and shoulder. Freya’s smile widened, deliberately choosing to ignore the tightening in her core from that simple action, but just as she went to relax back against Kandomere, her stomach growled. She moved to get up again, but Kandomere’s arms tightened even further around her, said elf grumbling intelligibly.  
“Goddamnit Kandomere,” she grumbled. “I need food to function,” she pouted, and Kandomere chuckled a bit. Suddenly Freya was in the air, and with a squeak and a blink she was back on the couch, however her elven pillow was standing in front of her.  
“I’ll make breakfast, mi alma,” he smiled, kissing her forehead, and it was then Freya finally realized that Kandomere was shirtless.  
“When did you lose your shirt?!” she stammered, blushing. Kandomere smirked slyly at her.  
“You talk in your sleep, did you know that?” his grin widened as Freya’s blush deepened. She hid her face in her hands, groaning and scrunching her eyes shut.  
“What did I say? Do I even wanna know?” she mumbled, and Kandomere pried her hands from her face, kissing her forehead once more.  
Turning to the kitchen, Kandomere threw over his shoulder, “I believe your exact words were ‘this goddamn shirt is keeping me from my hunk of an elf’” Freya gasped, mortified. Sighing, she looked around.  
“So that wasn’t a dream last night?” she asked. Kandomere turned back to her, shaking his head and still smiling widely. Written clearly in her writing on his ribs was the word ‘Wow’. Seeing it once more, Freya’s mind filled with small doubts, wondering if she was even ready for this kind of relationship and commitment.  
“Oh god, we need to talk about this,” Kandomere tilted his head.  
“Alright, then let’s talk,” he said, going over to the counter to start making pancake mix. Freya frowned, somehow already missing his warmth. Going over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist from behind, Freya rested her cheek against his shoulder blades, slightly admiring the toned muscles. Feeling his presence so close to her, Freya decided that she was definitely ready for the relationship and commitment that would come with it, however she still needed to clear things up.  
“So, does this mean we’re dating?” Freya was not experienced at all with relationships, she had only ever had maybe two or three kisses in her life (and only one french kiss, but at that time it felt disgusting). Of course that number had increased since last night and finding out they were mates… Kandomere smiled over his shoulder at her.  
“Do you want to be dating?” he asked calmly, though his heart was beating a thousand miles a minute, and the elf was sure with Freya’s ear so close she could hear it pounding. Freya took a second to gather her thoughts, so she could reply to him without screaming.  
“Of course!” she replied, nuzzling more into his back. Then she paused, remembering her being taught about how fast mates tend to move. “But… um… can we go slow?” she mumbled, and Kandomere turned around, wrapping her in his arms.  
“If that’s what you want, of course we can go slow,” Kandomere murmured, though in his head all he could think was my precious mate, she’s so adorable…  
Freya thought more on her lessons, and remembered something about mate sickness.  
“With us going slow, will mate sickness be a problem?” she asked, tilting her head. Kandomere shook his in a ‘no’.  
“Mate sickness can be avoided just through touch, not specifically intimacy,” he smiled at her. “And you will not be as affected by it as I will, due to your being human,” he explained, and while he was fine with that and would endure anything for his mate, said mate pouted.  
“Well I don’t want you to be affected at all…” she trailed off, before smiling cutely at Kandomere. “I guess we’ll just have to spend a lot of time together!”

It was official, Freya had melted Kandomere’s heart. Kandomere officially decided he would never stop smiling if his mate continued to be this adorable, and that wouldn’t usually be a problem, but he was supposed to be intimidating during interrogations… Freya would be the death of him.  
Around 15 minutes later, Kandomere and Freya were seated at the kitchen island, eating pancakes. Freya took a bite, and promptly moaned. Kandomere raised an eyebrow at her, determined to not let her know how that sound affected him.  
“These are so frickin good Kandomere… How the hell did you do this?” Freya sighed dreamily. Kandomere just smirked and shook his head. Looking at the clock on the oven, Kandomere’s eyes widened, seeing it read 10:00.  
“Do you have to go to the shop today?” he asked, and Freya shook her head.  
“You see the wonderful thing about me being my own boss, is I get to pick my own hours,” she smiled, adding: “And I am deciding to take the day off to spend it with my wonderful elf boyfriend,” she paused. “If that’s okay?”. Kandomere’s smile widened to the point where he felt his face might break.  
“Of course it is, Freya!” he exclaimed, maybe a little too eagerly. Freezing and hoping he didn’t sound too desperate, Kandomere looked up to see his mate’s beautiful face smiling fondly at him. He cleared his throat. “Plus, I think there’s a Star Wars marathon on today, and we need a break from bad movies…” Freya nodded, then paused for a second, pouting.  
“Are they doing the stupid prequels too?” she asked, groaning, but perked up when Kandomere shook his head ‘no’.  
“Just the originals, as it should be, querida,” he smirked, and Freya sighed.  
“Oof take me I’m yours,” she swooned, giggling, and Kandomere smirked.  
“If you insist,” and suddenly Freya was being bridle-carried back to the couch. Freya giggled some more, forgetting for a second about how strong Kandomere would have to be to lift her with this much ease. Then she giggled some more, internally swooning over her handsome elf. Snuggling into Kandomere’s chest as he gently sat down on the couch, she smirked a bit.  
“The big bad elf, is into Star Wars?” she teased, but Kandomere scoffed.  
“Everyone at least secretly likes Star Wars,” he said as if it were obvious, then he leaned in closer to her face as if he was sharing some conspiratorial secret. “But you can’t tell anyone, I have a reputation to uphold,” And Freya’ giggles returned, she was full out laughing, at least until they both fell off the couch that is.  
Laughing some more, Kandomere realized that the couch was definitely too narrow if they were to be comfortably cuddling all day.  
“We could use my bedroom, there’s a TV in there,” he suggested innocently, however when he saw Freya’s blush he scrambled to recover. “I mean, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” then Freya’s lips were on his.  
“Shh, it’s okay,” she whispered as she pulled back. “Let’s watch some Star Wars!” she grinned at him, pulling Kandomere by his hand towards what she assumed was his bedroom. Opening the door, she walked straight into the laundry room, groaned, then turned around.  
“Where is your bedroom?” she bit her lip, smiling sheepishly. Kandomere shook his head with a smile on his face and opened the door at the very end of the hallway. Freya gasped in amazement at not just the size of the bedroom but also Kandomere’s California king size bed, and his huge TV screen. Kandomere grinned at her, grabbing the remote and sitting down on the bed, facing the TV. Freya stood there awkwardly for a minute before crawling up onto the bed, which was a task in itself considering how short Freya was and how tall the bed was.  
Once Freya actually got on the bed, she sat next to Kandomere and snuggled into his chest, smiling as the TV turned on and Kandomere flipped to the channel with the Star Wars marathon on. It turned on just as Obi Wan was fighting Vader.  
“Of frickin course we tune in at this part!” Freya groaned, burying her head in Kandomere’s chest.  
Said elf groaned, irrationally annoyed at the TV. Switching over to a streaming service he had, he quickly bought all the Star Wars movies and hit play on Episode IV.  
“You didn’t have to buy them!” Freya exclaimed, but Kandomere just put his finger on her lips, kissing her temple.  
“Shush and enjoy the movie, querida,” he mumbled, relaxing further into the bed, pulling Freya with him. Freya smiled and booped his nose as the opening credits played. Kandomere meanwhile was smirking at his mate humming along to the music in the opening.


	9. Chapter 9

About halfway through Episode V of Star Wars, which was around 2 in the afternoon, Kandomere realized he had some reports left that he needed to finish up, so he adjusted so that Freya was resting on his shoulder and his laptop was on his lap. Freya was nodding off when Kandomere got a skype call from Adalira on his laptop…  
“Huh?” Freya’s head shot up. Seeing Adalira’s face on the screen, she reached over to hit answer.  
“That’s weird- no wait!” Kandomere was too late to stop Freya from answering, and Adalira’s face popped up on the screen.  
“Hola mijo! How did everything go with Freya?” her voice sounded, and before Kandomere could even open his mouth to answer, another question was fired off. “Did you two have sex yet?” Adalira asked quickly, and Freya blanched, letting out a barely audible squeak. Kandomere slammed his laptop shut, avoiding looking at his mate.  
“Um… did she just…?” said mate mumbled, trailing off. Kandomere nodded, his eyes wide. Quickly glancing at Freya, Kandomere saw that an adorable blush was spread over her cheeks, and if they were in different circumstances perhaps he would have taken longer to appreciate that, but instead, he simply nuzzled into the crown of her head, placing a light kiss there.  
“I’m sorry querida, my mother can be… blunt…” He tried to explain. However Freya cut him off with a finger to his lips. Kandomere found himself having to deliberately ignore the urge to place a kiss on the tip of her finger, everything about her was so irresistible and distracting to him.  
“It’s okay sweets, I mean what would you expect at 500 years old?!” she giggled cutely, and Kandomere nodded, mumbling a quiet ‘right’ before taking a deep breath before opening the laptop again. Adalira’s face popped up once again.  
“What’s wrong? Don’t you know it’s rude to cut someone off!?” Adalira was scowling, with her eyebrows furrowed, and both Kandomere and Freya knew from experience that Adalira making that face was never a good sign for the person on the receiving end. Freya had been unfortunate enough to have been on the wrong end once, and was scarred for quite some time. Kandomere, of course, having been raised by her, had been on the receiving end multiple times, and was not keen on it happening again. So as to quickly diffuse the situation before the couple could feel the brunt of Adalira’s wrath, Freya leaned over so that her face was in view of the camera.  
“Hi Adalira…” she mumbled. Adalira’s eyes widened in surprise and her hands waved wildly.  
“Oh goodness dear, I’m so sorry! I didn’t expect you to still be there…” Suddenly she froze. “Oh but you stayed the night huh?” now she was smirking, and Freya shook her head, glaring with what Kandomere saw as a cute pout on her face.  
“Adalira, we didn’t do the sex,” she sighed, and Adalira softly mirrored her pout. Kandomere decided, through very unsound logic, that this was the perfectly awkward moment to step in.  
“But we are mates, as we found out last night!” He smirked, and Freya mirrored it with a smile, looking at his beaming face affectionately. Kandomere planted a quick kiss on her cheek, then decided that wasn’t enough and packed her nose, and finally gave her a peck on the mouth. Through this Freya had a dopey smile on her face, deciding she was officially in heaven.  
Adalira was heard sighing, snapping the recently found mates out of their loving stupor. “And you’re telling me that you didn’t claim your mate?!” she sounded so fed up, rolling her eyes and they noticed that the scowl had returned.  
“Why is she so invested in our sex life…?” Freya mumbled, and Kandomere shrugged.  
“We’re taking it slow, because I’m… uh… you know…” she started to explain, but paused, knowing it was a bit taboo for humans to admit this, especially at her age of 26 years old. “I’m a virgin,” she blurted after a little too long of a pause. Kandomere froze, being unaware of this until now, and turned to her, knowing it was very uncommon for humans to be virgins past high school age. But of course he was snapped out of his thoughts by his mother, again.  
“Oh I’m sure my Kandomere can be gentle…” she smiled sweetly, and Kandomere blanched.  
“Mamá!” he exclaimed, mortified. But Freya smirked, taking it in stride. Because if there’s one thing the virgin knew how to do, it’s make innuendos and sex jokes.  
“Oh I’m sure I like it rough,” she giggled, which would have been adorable if it weren’t for her words that sent all the blood in Kandomere straight to his groin. On that note, Freya stood up, leaving Kandomere to let out a mix between a sigh in relief knowing that the laptop was covering his arousal, and a groan in frustration knowing that the source of said arousal was just walking away in her cute leggings from last night, outlining her perfect ass and... enough of that train of thought. “I’ll let you two talk, I’m gonna go make lunch!” and with that she was out the bedroom door and off to the kitchen, gently closing the door behind her.  
Kandomere sighed as the door closed, glaring at his mother.  
“Mamá, that was barely appropriate…” he breathed out, and Adalira laughed.  
“Oh my precious boy, you don’t understand,” she got out through her bouts of laughter. She started to explain, “We’ve spoken many times about you and every single time I’d show her a picture of you her first reaction would be, her words not mine, ‘Jesus Christ your son is hot’...” she peeled off into more bouts of laughter. “I’ve been trying to get you two to meet for ages, you know, wishing for some grandchildren finally” her eyes twinkled with the playfulness of a teasing mother as she went to end the call. “Oh, and she’s very impressed with your work at the MTF,” she winked before signing off. Kandomere face palmed, closing his laptop, before looking up and realizing the movie was still going.  
Standing up and turning off the TV, Kandomere exited his bedroom and walked down the hallway to the kitchen only to stop dead in his tracks.  
Freya was bent over at the waist, shirt riding up slightly, and searching through a cabinet, and of course Kandomere’s eyes were immediately drawn to her ass once again. Ignoring his growing erection, which was just going down goddamnit, he’s not some hormonal teenager, Kandomere chuckled when he heard her muttering to herself.  
“Oh yes I’m a big bad MTF agent and I hide the FRICKIN FRYING PANS,” she was grumbling, her voice increasing in volume near the end of her statement. Kandomere laughed, placing a hand on the small of her back, avoiding anywhere lower.  
“They’re in the next cabinet, mi alma,” he tells her, opening said cabinet and pulling out a frying pan.  
“Oh…” she mumbled, before taking the frying pan from him and walking to the stove.

After burning her third grilled cheese sandwich, Freya was sentenced to sitting alone at the kitchen island while Kandomere cooked.  
“When you said you were going to make lunch,” Kandomere started, laughter already in his voice, but Freya cut him off.  
“Shut up,” she groaned, covering her face with her hands.  
“I assumed that you knew how to cook,” he chuckled, and Freya glared at him.  
“And I assumed that I could try to make a nice meal for mate while also revealing my only weakness,” she growled, but Kandomere could hear the playfulness in her voice. “And that my mate would also not be a judgemental asshole about said weakness,” she mumbled, still playful, and Kandomere turned off the stove for a second, walking over to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek.  
“I’m sorry, querida,” he mumbled, nuzzling into her neck.  
“No, no being cute!” she said, glowering. “I’m mad at you,”  
“Mmm…” Kandomere hummed into her neck. “Forgive me?” he asked innocently, and Freya groaned.  
“Goddamnit, fine,” she mumbled, turning to give him a quick peck on the lips. “Now go back to your cooking, love,” she glared.  
“Oh look at me, I’m Kandomere and I can cook, I’m frickin perfect,” she muttered in a childish voice, but Kandomere just smirked and shook his head.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is kind of long, but I think it's really cute!

Episode VII had just started, and Freya softly asked Kandomere to pause the movie before anything exciting happened.  
“Why?” he asked, reaching over to hit pause on the remote.  
“I need to check the time,” Freya mutters, opening her iPhone and seeing the clock at 4:45.  
“SHIT!” she shouted, startling the elf resting on her stomach. Said elf shot up, looking around.  
“What?!” he asked, and Freya frantically looked over at him.  
“Would I be able to get to my place in 15 minutes?” she demanded, and Kandomere nodded.  
“Probably, what’s going on?” he was a little worried, but Freya shook her head.  
“I have a class to teach at the dojo,” she explained, starting to get up, but Kandomere’s arms circled her stomach, pulling her back.  
“We can afford a couple more minutes, querida,” he murmured, placing a kiss on the nape of Freya’s neck, and Freya sighed in frustration, shaking her head.  
“Kandomere I have to change and set up the dojo!” she groaned, and Kandomere sighed.  
“I don’t want you to leave,” he whispered, and Freya sighed again.  
“I don’t want to leave either, but I have a life, Kandomere,” she said. “Just because we know we’re mates now doesn’t mean that I’m going to drop everything. I still need my independence,” she explained, and Kandomere huffed into her neck.  
“I know, mi amor, it’s just hard to wrap my head around,” his voice was quiet, and while it was frustrating, Freya appreciated the fact that he was trying to accept that human relationships are much different than elvish mates.  
Freya slowly stood up, Kandomere’s arms sliding off her hips. Moving to the ensuite, Freya freshened up quickly, sneaking into the attached walk-in closet and grabbing one of Kandomere’s t-shirts, getting a giggle out of the fact that it said “Kiss me, I’m Elvish!”. Walking out wearing the shirt, which went down to about mid thigh, she smirked at Kandomere, holding her hands up in a peace sign. Kandomere smirked, holding up a finger and taking his phone out, quickly snapping a picture.  
“You look lovely in my shirt querida,” Freya blushed, but nodded.  
“Thank you, love,” she gave him a quick peck and hug before heading for the bedroom door. “Bye!” she said over her shoulder, and Kandomere scrambled to get up.  
“What? What do you mean?” he asked, and Freya sighed frustratedly again.  
“I need to go…” she said slowly, but Kandomere shook his head. Getting ready to argue, Freya closed her mouth when Kandomere opened his.  
“I thought I was driving you?” he asked, and Freya deflated, smiling at him.  
“I can take the bus sweetie,” she said, but he shook his head.  
“No, I’m driving you,” he said with finality, and Freya nodded, smiling at him.  
“Thank you,” she said, and Kandomere grabbed her hand and took her down to the garage.  
Getting in the car, of course after Kandomere held the door for her, Freya buckled up. When Kandomere pulled out of the garage, the radio turned on.  
Made a wrong turn  
Once or twice...  
Kandomere started to hum along, and Freya stayed silence, wanting to see if he’d start singing. She was duly rewarded. Kandomere started to sing along at the chorus, singing an octave down and… dayummm. Apparently her elf had a voice. And Freya would be lying if she said that said voice wasn’t doing things to her lower half.

Kandomere sniffed the air, smirking while singing when smelling Freya’s arousal. Of course, his amusement quickly turned to lust, her heady scent filling the car and starting to arouse the elf.   
Once they arrived outside Freya’s building, Kandomere was equal parts relieved and sad. Relieved due to the fact that he wouldn’t do anything rash with Freya going home, and sad due to the fact that he wasn’t sure when he’d see Freya again. He pulled to a stop right in front of Freya’s building, and heard his mate sigh.  
Freya turned to him with a smile, then going closer. “Bye Kandomere,” she said softly, going to kiss his cheek, but at the last second Kandomere turned his head to kiss her passionately on the lips. Giggling into the kiss, Freya pulled back. “See you soon, hun!” and with that, she was out of the car. Kandomere stayed outside until the door closed behind her, then drove off back to elf town.

When Freya arrived in her dojo after changing into work out clothes, she quickly started class upon seeing all the teens already there. It took them five minutes to start teasing her about Kandomere.  
“So?” Jamie asked while they were sparring.   
“So what?” Freya asked, dodging a punch Jamie threw.  
“How’d it go with your elf hunk last night?” Jamie laughed, throwing a couple more punches. Freya dodged everyone except the last, getting hit square in the gut.  
“Th-that’s…” she stuttered, and the orcs all laughed. Glaring, Freya quickly sweeped Jamie to the ground, pinning her in an arm bar after Jamie had thrown a sloppy punch at her. Glaring around the studio at everyone, she growled out: “Get back to the drills!”. At any other time, the teenagers would have been scared to see the ferocious look on their teacher’s face, but due to the fiery red blush on Freya’s face, they just shrugged and went back to work.  
An hour or so later, Dorghu came up with Sam, signalling the end of class. Freya had lost track of time, but dismissed everyone once realizing they had run a little over. Dorghu walked over to her, going to give her a hug when-  
“Oh my god FREYA!” he shouted, and Freya’s head snapped up.  
“What?” she asked quickly, scared something was wrong. Scanning the room quickly, seeing nobody injured or anything, she turned to Dorghu with a confused face.  
“How far did you go with that elf?” he asked frantically, sniffing around her and holding her shoulders.  
“Huh?” Freya had no idea what was going on, confused by Dorghu’s sudden freak out when the other night he had been teasing her about it.  
“You reek of him Freya! You had sex!?” Freya blushed, quickly shaking her head.  
“What? No! I slept over at his place! We’re mates!” she defended, unsure why smelling like someone could make it automatically assumed that she slept with them.  
“Have you… uh…” Dorghu was now looking around awkwardly. “This is a conversation I expected to only have to have with my kids, not you,” he groaned. Freya rolled her eyes.  
“Dorghu, I know about the birds and the bees…” she trailed off when Dorghu shook his head.  
“No, this is different.” he said. “Have you heard of scenting?” Freya shook her head negative. “Well, it’s sort of a primal thing, to scare off potential competitors. When an elf, orc, or shifter don’t want anyone to be in close proximity with their mate, especially when there’s romantic or sexual intentions, they scent their partner, making the partner reek of them. It’s sort of like a claim on them, and it’s usually done during… uh… intimacy, so others will assume you’re at that step in the relationship.” he explained, and Freya blushed.  
“Oh, well, we didn’t do the sex,” she said again, and Dorghu nodded, then side eyed her.  
“Did he at least ask your permission?” he inquired, and Freya tilted her head.  
“No? Was he supposed to?” she asked, and Dorghu nodded.  
“When it happens and you haven’t been intimate it’s usually important to make sure the partner is okay with passerby making that assumption,” he growled. “I’m gonna have to talk to that elf,” Freya spoke up before he could get too aggravated.  
“But I’m human? So maybe that threw him off?” she asked, and Dorghu deflated a little bit.  
“I guess… but I’m still gonna talk to him.” he grumbled, crossing his arms. Freya shook her head, going to give him a hug.  
“Oh hush grumpy, this is all new to us, so chillax, will ya?” she giggled, and Dorghu nodded, wrapping his arms around her. Freya giggled more at the big softy.  
“So now that that’s all settled, how did it go?” Dorghu asks, Freya bringing the orc and his kids up to her apartment. Freya turned to him once they were seated in the kitchen, Dorghu going about cooking some burgers.  
“Ohmygosh it was so amazing!” Freya about shouted. “He’s so sexy and we watched Sharknado and oh dear the dork bought all of the Sharknado movies and he was so adorably confused, and then he found out my favorite drink was Mike’s so he bought some and he was so gentlemanly and oh we cuddled and he was so warm and strong and... “ she stopped, breathing for a second then sighing dreamily. “We kissed and then our marks appeared-” Jamie cut her off there.  
“LEMME SEE!” she shouted, and Freya lifted her shirt up, showing her ribs.  
“Wow is right, mi alma…” Jamie read out loud for the others, Sam crowding next to her to get a look at her ribs. “Huh I forgot he spoke spanish for a second…” she pondered, but then Mikey laughed.  
“Did you just say ‘wow’ or something?!” he asked, and Freya blushed, nodding. “So now he just has the word ‘wow’ on his ribs?!” she nodded again, causing all the orcs in her kitchen to laugh.  
After dinner, the family left, and Freya plopped on her bed, picking up Kandomere’s shirt which she had thrown on the bed when changing earlier. Bringing it to her face and sighing, ignoring the small voice in her head that told her that she was being a creeper, Freya put the shirt on, smiling, and turning on Netflix and watching the first cheesy romance movie that popped up.

Kandomere was laying in his bed again, sniffing the sheets and reveling in the scent of his mate. Thinking back on her beautiful form, the softness of her stomach and thighs, her smile. Then his mind flashed to the scent of her arousal in the car, and he felt his cock going to half-mast. Just as he was about to give in and slide his hand under his sweatpants, he heard a buzzing.   
Which was odd, because his phone was on silent…  
Looking around, he saw Freya’s phone through the open bathroom door, sitting on the sink. Sighing, he stood up, picking up the phone and starting to walk to the elevator, when it buzzed again. Still, walking, he glanced at it, then glanced again seeing some of the messages.  
Jared: Answer me bitch  
Jared: U better not be with that elf prick I heard about  
Jared: Your mine!!  
Kandomere sighed at the incorrect grammar, but then the meaning of the messages sunk in. Eyes narrowing, Kandomere slammed his car door, speeding out of the garage and towards the orc sector.  
Ringing the doorbell, he hears series of thuds as Freya comes down the stairs, and then the door opens and she’s right in front of him.  
Freya stops dead in her tracks seeing him, and then glances down to his hand, seeing her phone.   
“OH MY GOD YOU BROUGHT MY PHONE I’VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR IT!” she gasped, giving him a hug. He momentarily forgot his worries about the texts, hugging her back. When they pulled away, Freya smiles at him cutely. “Would you… like to come inside for a bit?” she asks, and Kandomere nods, smirking at his adorable mate.  
Once they were inside and cuddling on the couch, Kandomere decided it was a good time as any to ask about the threatening texts.  
“Who’s Jared?” he asked, and felt Freya tense.   
“You saw those texts, huh?” she murmured, and Kandomere just stared at her, narrowing his eyes as if to say ‘don’t avoid the question’. Freya sighed, and started to explain. “Jared is my friend’s ex, and he asked me out recently…” Kandomere growled at that. “When I said no he started stalking me and sending me these texts,” she continued to explain. Kandomere pulled her onto his lap, snuggling into her neck, scenting her to calm himself down.  
“Why haven’t you blocked his number?” he asked, and Freya sighed.  
“I’m going to get a restraining order tomorrow, and I’ve decided to use these texts as more incentive to get it filed quicker,” she explained, and Kandomere nodded. There was a pause, where the couple just snuggled and as Kandomere rubbed his face into her hair and neck, Freya had a thought.  
“Do you think that Jared will leave me alone now that you’ve scented me?” she asked, and Kandomere froze.  
“I’m.. sorry I didn’t ask you, are you okay with it?” he asked, a little embarrassed. Freya giggled.  
“It’s a little late for that now, silly!” she said, booping his nose. His eyes widened, thinking that he had overstepped a boundary, but then Freya’s lips were on his and he smiled through the kiss. They leaned into each other, Freya relaxing further on his lap, and they smiled at each other once the kiss was broken. Kandomere glanced down, noticing something.  
“Is that my shirt, querida?” he asked, and Freya froze.  
“Uhhh…” she trailed off. “Boop!” she giggled, leaping off Kandomere’s lap and running into her bedroom. Kandomere walked after her, leaning against the doorframe, and seeing Freya lying face down on her bed. He slowly walked towards her, smiling, and placed a hand lightly on her lower back.  
“Are you alright?” he asked, and Freya squeaked, before she turned over and looked up at him with wide eyes.  
“Would you…. Like to stay the night?” she asked, blushing, and Kandomere nodded.  
“I’d love to,” he said, smiling at her reassuringly, noticing her embarrassment.

A little later, the couple were lying in bed, with Kandomere tracing his fingers over the red on Freya’s hip.  
“Your tattoos,” he started, and Freya hummed in response. “Do they have meaning?” he asked, and Freya nodded, sitting up. She pulled the collar of her shirt (Kandomere’s shirt) down, showing a gemini symbol on her left collarbone.  
“My star-sign,” she said, the lifted up the shirt, showing a row of initials and dates on her ribs. “Loved ones I’ve lost,” then she turned, allowing Kandomere to see clearly the red dragon on her hip. “I got this one to signify my bravery on leaving my parents and moving to the orc sector,” she said, and Kandomere smiled at her.  
“Mi pequeño dragón valiente,” he murmured, pulling her down onto the bed and giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Let’s get some sleep,”.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry! I was hospitalized about a month ago, and I just got out on Friday.  
> So here's the eleventh chapter a little early!

Comfortable, was the first thought in Kandomere’s mind when he woke up, quickly followed by: warm, safe, love. He realized he was smiling, and nuzzled his face further into the head of lavender hair in front of him. The owner of said hair hummed, still asleep, and Kandomere breathed in the scent of his mate. Mine.   
The serene moment was broken by Freya’s hair tickling on Kandomere’s face, and revealing his one true weakness. As he started to laugh, Freya startled awake, looking around wildly and seeing Kandomere smiling fondly at her. She smiled shyly back at him, unsure as to what was going on.  
“What was that about?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and stretching out her arms with a yawn.  
“Don’t worry about it, mi alma,” he said, and Freya rolled her eyes.  
“Oh no, Mr. ‘I wake my mate up laughing at-’” she paused to look at the clock, missing Kandomere’s enamoured gaze at her referring to herself as his mate. “‘8 o’clock on a Sunday morning!’ You don’t get to brush that off!” she glared, quite adorably, and Kandomere chuckled, kissing her head, before leaning down and whispering in her ear his damning secret.  
“I’m ticklish…” he muttered, but Freya took a moment to comprehend that, instead reveling in the shivers that went through her body and warmth that spread through her at his gruff morning voice whispering in ear.  
When it finally registered, Freya smirked, turning and quickly wiggling her fingers and rubbing them over his sides, causing the elvish hunk in her bed to burst out laughing.  
“No!” he gasped out. “I trusted you!” Freya just smiled at him, eventually stopping and just snuggling into his side.  
“Mmmm,” she hummed in contentment, and that sat up, Kandomere trying and failing to reach out to pull her back to bed. “Breakfast,” was all she said, and Kandomere rose an eyebrow, remembering when she went to make food the day before, and wasted 6 pieces of bread, 5 pieces of cheese, and almost a full stick of butter.  
“Would you like any help, mi amor?” he asked, and Freya shook her head, turning and pointing at him like one would a dog.   
“Stay.” she narrowed her eyes at him, and he held his hands up in surrender, relaxing back into the bed.  
A couple minutes later Kandomere lifts his head up at the sound of the door opening, seeing Freya coming in with two bowls of cereal. He rose an eyebrow at her, and she pouted, handing him a bowl.  
“I decided to not even try, okay?” she grumbled, and Kandomere laughed, and minding the bowls of cheerios, gently pulled her into his side, kissing her temple.  
“Call it quid pro quo,” he said, and Freya hummed in question. “You know one of my weaknesses and I know one of yours,” he said, and the short woman in his arms giggled. A question suddenly popped into Kandomere’s head as he took the first bite.  
“But don’t you bake?” he asked, and Freya nodded.  
“Yeah but that’s totally different!” she defended herself.  
“How?” Kandomere countered, smirking.  
“It just is!” her pouty face returned.  
“That’s not an answer!” Kandomere laughed, and Freya glared.  
“You bet your hot elvish ass it’s an answer! Bite me!” she shot back, and Kandomere grinned.  
“If you insist,” he mumbled, dipping his head to nip lightly at her neck with his sharp teeth. Freya gasped, squeaking a little before squirming away.  
“No! None for you!” she growled, causing Kandomere to pout, making grabby hands at her like a child. “No! I have more important things to do!” she said, and Kandomere rose an eyebrow.  
“What could possibly be more important than your pleasure, querida?” he smirked leaning in to place a kiss on her nose, then kissing down her cheek and neck to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. Freya hummed, quickly losing herself in the feeling of her mate.  
“Stuff… things….” since when was answering questions so hard? She felt a warmth start in her core, before she snapped back to reality.  
“I have to go to the station!” she said, snapping Kandomere out of his daze as well.  
“Huh?” he asked, disoriented for a moment, lost in the scent of his mate. Mine mine mine…  
“I need to file the restraining order,” she said, and Kandomere quickly growled, remembering the text messages from the day before. Mine mine mine…  
“Would you like a ride?” he asked, now fully recovered. Damn he needed to get a hold of himself, he wasn’t some teenager being alone in a room with a girl for the first time!  
“Are you sure you’ve got nothing better to do today?” she asked, and Kandomere smiled fondly.   
“Nothing is better or more important than making sure my mate is safe,” he said, giving her an eskimo kiss. Freya blushed.  
“Stop that!” she said, and Kandomere tilted his head.  
“Stop what?” he asked, puzzled.  
“Stop being soppy and romantic and perfect,” Freya grumbled, and Kandomere laughed, pecking her on the nose and shaking his head.  
Kandomere sat up. “I do have plans with Ulysses later tonight, but we have plenty of time before then,” he told her, and Freya nodded. Of course she didn’t know that those plans were solely to gush about Freya due to Ulysses insisting that he must hear how everything went.  
“Thank you,” she murmured. “And who’s Ulysses?” she asked.  
“My partner, who also doubles as my best friend on occasion,” Kandomere said, and Freya let out a short laugh, quickly covering her mouth. “But don’t let him know I told you that,” he whispered. With that, they stood up, smiling at each other, before Freya glanced down.  
“Clothes,” she muttered, and Kandomere nodded, grabbing his shirt from the day before and throwing on some pants.  
“I have a duffle bag in my car, let me grab it so I can change,” he said, stepping out to get to his car. Freya nodded, shuffling through her dresser for a sundress, eventually finding a pale yellow one and throwing it on. Freya looked in the mirror, smiling at herself before something caught her eye. Slowly reaching up to her ears, feeling the soft curves, the definite lack of any point, Freya sighed, before her gaze drifted further down her body. Her dress hid some of her curves, like her soft stomach and wide hips, but she knew what was underneath, and some days she did love her body, but then there were days like this where she woke up hating it.  
Kandomere came back in, having misplaced his duffle bag, but stopped seeing Freya standing in front of the mirror with a forlorn look on her face. He smiled ruefully, walking up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.  
“You’re absolutely stunning,” he whispered in her ear, kissing the end of it. Freya rolled her eyes, smiling a bit. Kandomere smirked.  
“Why don’t you believe me, mi amor?” he asked, and Freya giggled a bit, shaking her head.   
“Self-hatred doesn’t just go away the moment you find happiness, Kandomere,” she sighed, and while Kandomere’s heart swelled with pride at her indirectly referring to him as her happiness, he sighed back.  
“Then I’ll just have to tell you every opportunity I get until you start believing it,” he smiled at her in the mirror, and she blushed. “And then I’ll keep reminding you so you never forget how beautiful you are,”. Freya smiled a little, turning and giving Kandomere a quick peck on the lips.  
“You sop,” she muttered, booping him on the nose. “Now go put your suit on,” she commanded, crossing her arms, and Kandomere rolled his eyes as he picked his suit from the day before up and put it on.  
When they both were dressed, Freya lead Kandomere down the stairs, and as she peered outside, she froze. Kandomere looked over her shoulder, following her gaze to see what the problem was. An orc on the shorter side of average was waiting outside Freya’s shop, scowling. Kandomere rose an eyebrow, looking to Freya and pointing at the orc.  
“Is that Jared?” he asked, and Freya nodded. Kandomere’s easy going face quickly morphed into a menacing scowl. “Wait here,” he says, and Freya nods, rolling her eyes a little.  
“No killing anyone in front of my shop, please,” she says, and Kandomere looks back at her.  
“No promises,” he winks, then walks out the door and towards Jared, who immediately spots him and gets right up in his face.  
“Hey, you!” he calls when he’s a couple feet away. “What the hell are you doing in Freya’s house you pointy-eared bastard?” he demanded, stopping when he was nose to nose with Kandomere.  
“I’m her boyfriend,” Kandomere told him, keeping his face blank, and Freya could practically see the steam coming out of Jared’s ears. He went to throw a punch, and Kandomere just brushed the punch aside, hitting Jared in the face after, but Jared kept coming. The fight went on for a minute, Jared taking every hit Kandomere gave him, when suddenly the pair saw a blur of yellow and purple, and then Jared was on the ground, with Freya’s legs wrapped around his neck. He was out like a light as soon as he hit the ground. Kandomere gaped at his mate while she casually stood up.  
“Did I flash you? I knew I shouldn’t have worn a dress today…” she trailed off, but Kandomere laughed, pulling her close to him and kissing her temple.  
“No, querida, you’re just amazing,” he murmured, and Freya giggled before stepping away and pulling out her cell, calling Dorghu.  
“Hey Dorghu?” she asked once he picked up.  
“Freya? What time is it you ass?” he demanded.  
“Time to get your ass up and to my shop to keep an eye on this stalking fuck while Kandomere and I go to the police station,” she said, and she could hear muffled curses and a crash as Dorghu-she assumed-threw himself out of bed.  
“What the fuck did he do?” he asked in a low growl. Freya glanced at Kandomere.  
“He started a fight with my elf,” she grumbled, and Kandomere smirked, winking a bit at her.  
A couple minutes later Dorghu, Jamie, and Mikey come running up, hauling Jared off the ground and dragging him away to the church. Freya waved and promptly starting dragging Kandomere by the arm to his car.  
“Come on let’s go,” she smiled at him, and he wordlessly got into the car, starting up the engine and driving to the precinct. “You alright?” she asked, and he smiled at her shaking his head.  
“I’m just in awe of you, mi amor,” he grabbed her hand and gave it a quick kiss as they pulled up. Stepping out of the car, Freya smiled seeing her two favorite cops walking out of the station joking around and shoving each other. She ran ahead of Kandomere to barrel into their arms, not letting the human cop pull away.  
“No, Daryl, I know you love the hugs, just be happy like Nick here!” she growled, and Ward rolled his eyes as he hugged her back.  
As the friends pulled away Freya smiled brightly at the much taller males. “So what havoc have you been wreaking all over the city in the past week?” she asked, and Daryl started to laugh while Nick looked at her confused.  
“Freya you know we only try to help the cit-” he stopped himself, seeing Freya’s fond smile as she shook her head. “Right, that was a joke,” he chuckled a bit as Freya patted his arm.  
“Don’t worry big guy, you’ll get used to human humor eventually,” she giggled, and the men started to laugh, but abruptly cut each other off when they saw Kandomere walk up behind Freya. Freya looked puzzled for a second before feeling the warm presence of her mate right behind her.  
“Oh, right! This is-” she started.  
“Yeah we know who he is,” Ward said tensely, and Freya tilted her head.  
“Oh, how do you guys know my mate? I didn’t think you worked with magic stuff?” she asked, and Nick, who had been taking a sip of his coffee, comically spit it on the ground in surprise.  
“Mate?!” he asked, finally recognizing the scent coting Freya. Kandomere visibly preened at being publically referred to as Freya’s mate.  
“Yes,” he said, trying to keep his normally stoic demeanor. “Problem?” he asked, and Daryl shook his head, walking right up to Kandomere and getting in his face.  
“Not at the moment,” he growled. “But, magic fed or not, we hear you’ve been mistreating her, you better hope your ass is across the country by then,”. Freya gasped, blushing.  
“Daryl!” she exclaimed, slapping his arm. Daryl flinched away.  
“Fuck, woman, what?” he laughed.  
“That’s not nice!” Freya glared at him, and gestured to Kandomere to prompt Daryl to apologize. Ward sighed, stepping back a bit.  
“Fine,” he tilted his head back a bit. “Sorry I threatened you,” he said, and Freya smiled, nodding, but Ward continued. “But,” Freya’s smile dropped. “We will be keeping an eye on you,” he said, doing the dorkiest possible thing he could have done in that moment, pointing at his eyes and turning his hand to point at Kandomere. Kandomere smiled softly.  
“If I do hurt her, which I would never intend to do, I give you full permission to do whatever you deem necessary,” he said, and Freya blushed.  
“And on that note!” she interjected before things could get any more tense. “You guys have cop stuff to do, I have a restraining order to go file, bye!” and then she was dragging Kandomere into the precinct.

Meanwhile, Dorghu was sitting in the church, looking down at Jared’s limp (unconscious) body. They had tied him up, and Dorghu smirked as Mikey threw in an extra kick to Jared’s ribs.  
Nobody had to know that Freya wasn’t the one who broke his ribs, after all, it was self defense!


	12. Chapter 12

At the precinct, a couple cops were milling about in the briefing room, Daryl and Nick included, when the new sergeant walked in. Ever since the whole wand fiasco, the department had been looking for a new sergeant, Daryl was even suggested for it, but many of the other cops were still bitter about Nick being his partner. They would call him an orc fetishist, so the department ultimately decided to go with a more seasoned officer from a different precinct.  
“Alright, I got an asshole named Jared who needs to be arrested for attempted assault, a restraining order also just came through against him from someone named Freya,” she paused. “Any takers?”.  
Nick and Daryl shared a look with each other, Daryl walking up to the sergeant and snatching the case file on his way out the door.  
“We got this!” he called over his shoulder while Nick followed him.  
Once the pair pulled up to the church in the orc sector, Mikey gave them a wave and motioned them in.   
“What’s good Nick?” Mikey asked, dapping said orc up and bumping his shoulder. Daryl rose an eyebrow, having no idea when they became all buddy buddy.  
“Oh, you know, nothing much, but the other guys at the station have stopped putting stickers on my back,” Nick gave him a half smile, and Mikey smiled right back, clapping him on the back.  
“About time those assholes showed you some respect!” he laughed, and Daryl and Nick followed him into the church. Daryl leaned closer to Nick, posing a question.  
“Since when did you get close with Fogteeth?” he asked, and Nick shot him an awkward look, shaking his head.  
“Nick!” Dorghu laughed, seeing the orc, and Nick’s ace went an odd shade of purple.  
“Hey Dorghu,” Nick accepted the hug Dorghu gave him, and they hugged for a little longer than Daryl would consider a hug between normal friends. His eyebrows shot up once again.  
“Jared’s right over there,” Dorghu pointed, and Daryl went towards him with the cuffs.  
Once Jared was in the back of the squad car, and Daryl and Nick were driving away, Daryl smirked, side eyeing Nick.  
“So you and Dorghu huh?” he asked, and Nick’s shoulders tensed.  
“I uh… yeah,” Nick sighed. “Nothing’s happened yet, but it most likely will,” he smiled a bit, and Daryl laughed, slapping his arm.  
“Damn son! But when did you guys even become friendly with each other?” he asked, and Nick shrugged.  
“Freya locked us in the church closet and had Jamie and Mikey block the door until we sorted everything out,” he muttered, and Daryl’s laughing got louder.  
“Awe shit, why am I not surprised?”

Meanwhile back in Freya’s apartment, Freya was laying on Kandomere’s chest in her bedroom. They were laughing a little at each other’s stories about their families, Freya mainly talking about her adopted cousins, the only members of her family that she actually stayed in contact with. Their laughing was cut short, however, by Kandomere’s stomach grumbling. Freya giggled, looking up at him while she gave him a boop on the nose.  
“Let’s have dinner,” he mumbled, and Freya nodded.  
“Sounds like a plan!” she smiled, sitting up, but then she paused. “But wait, didn’t you have plans with Ulysses?” she asked, and Kandomere nodded.  
“I did, but he cancelled, his mother needed help with something,” he explained, and Freya nodded as he sat up. Kandomere kissed her cheek, then nuzzled into her neck. “Plus, I have yet to take you on a proper date,” he smiled into her neck, and Freya giggled again.  
“Awe, of course!” she sighed, but then Kandomere noticed her tense. “But… are we gonna go to some fancy place in elf town?” she asked, nervously biting her lip. Kandomere quickly stopped that action, however, by embracing her and placing a kiss on her lips.  
“Why don’t you pick the place?” he suggested, and Freya lit up. She grabbed his arm and began to pull him out the apartment and down the stairs, pausing only for a short moment to let them put on their shoes. Once they were on the street, and outside of Kandomere’s car, Freya turned to Kandomere, standing on her tiptoes and placing a quick peck on his lips.  
“Gimme your keys!” she laughed, and Kandomere rose an eyebrow.  
“Why?” he asked skeptically.  
“It’s a surprise!” Freya’s smile stayed on her face. Kandomere dug through his pocket and pulled out his keys, but before he handed them to Freya, he pulled his hand back a bit.  
“You do have a license right?” he asked, and Freya giggled.  
“Kandomere, I drove a car to your mothers the day we met, my cousin is borrowing it right now though,” she explained, and Kandomere nodded, handing her the keys. Freya squeed and ran onto the driver’s side of the car, hopping in. Once they were both buckled up, Freya paused, realizing that her feet couldn’t reach the pedals. She glared at Kandomere and leaned down to adjust the seat.  
“How the hell do you even reach the pedals in this fucking seat? It’s so far back!” she grumbled, before glancing at Kandomere’s legs. “Nevermind,” she muttered, starting the car. Kandomere just threw his head back and laughed. As Freya started driving, Kandomere reached over to the radio and turned it on to the last thing he had on, which just happened to be his Queen playlist. As the opening to Bohemian Rhapsody filled the car, Freya squealed.  
“OH MY GOD I COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!!!” she shouted, turning to look at Kandomere and sending him a million watt smile. While Kandomere under normal circumstances would have revelled in her smile, this time he was just terrified because as she turned to look at him she swerved slightly.  
“Eyes on the road!” he shouted back, hands gripping the sides of his seat so tightly his knuckles went white. Freya giggled, looking back at the road and calmly continuing to drive. She glanced at Kandomere in her peripheral, noticing his eyes were still wide with a bit of fear. Giggling some more, and seeing there were no cars in their immediate vicinity, she swerved a little bit, causing Kandomere to shriek. Freya’s giggling turned into a full out laugh.  
“Hun, relax, I know how to drive!” she reassured, and Kandomere just nodded curtly.  
“Just don’t hurt my baby,” he murmured, and Freya’s laughing continued.  
“Sure love,” she said after she finally was able to calm down her laughing. “Does your ‘baby’ have a name?” she asked, doing air quotes on the steering wheel. Kandomere stayed silent, face set in a straight line. He had only gotten the car about a week ago after his last sedan was totalled on a case. Of course he chose a name for the bluetooth, but he elected not to tell Freya the slightly embarrassing name.  
“I uh… I haven’t thought of a name yet,” he mumbled, lying. Freya rose an eyebrow as she pulled into a parking spot in Little Italy of LA. She maintained eye contact with him while she pulled out her phone and pulled up the bluetooth setting on her phone.  
“We’ll see about that in a second,” she smirked, before looking at the list of possible devices she could pair with. The first device on the list was: Freya. She froze, blushing a bit, and Kandomere awkwardly looked away. “Oh…” she giggled nervously.  
As she opened the car door and started to step out, Freya paused, turned back to her elf mate, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.  
“It’s adorable,” she murmured, jutting her head towards the restaurant the were parked at. “Let’s have dinner,”. And with that, she got out of the car.   
Kandomere smiled fondly, shaking his head and following her, looking up at the sign on the restaurant that read: Ciba di Valentina e Alessandro.   
Freya grabbed his hand and dragged him through the door, waving with a huge smile at the two people working behind the counter. Upon closer inspection, Kandomere did a double take when he noticed the two’s pointed ears. They seemed to be siblings, both with brown hair and bright red eyes. When they saw Freya they both handed whatever they were doing to some other employees and ran over, giving her a hug.  
“Ciao Freya!” the female said, bouncing up and down, and continued to speak to Freya in what Kandomere assumed was Italian. She responded fluently, shocking Kandomere a little bit. He caught some of what was said, but the whole myth that if you know one romance language you know them all was just that: a myth. The male turned to Kandomere and rose an eyebrow, tilting his head a little bit.  
“Freya!” he stopped the girls in the middle of what seemed like a lively conversation and gestured his head towards Kandomere. “Who’s this?” he asked, and Freya blushed.  
“Valentina, Alessandro, this is Kandomere, and he’s my mate,” she introduced, grabbing Kandomere’s arm and pulling him closer to her. She smiled brightly at the two and they shared a look. “Kandomere,” she started. “These are two of my cousins who didn’t disown me when my parents did, Valentina and Alessandro,” she introduced them, and Kandomere shook both their hands. The air was tense as the siblings stared Kandomere down. “Anyway!” Freya raised her voice a bit, trying to break the tense awkward moment. “What do you want for dinner?” she asked Kandomere, and Alessandro held up his hand.  
“Nononononononono! Come here!” he quickly grabbed Kandomere’s arm and lead him into the kitchen with Valentina in tow. Freya began to follow but Alessandro stopped and pointed a finger at her. “Stay,” he commanded, and Freya pouted, crossing her arms, but she nodded all the same, stopping and sitting down at a table.

As soon as the doors to the kitchen closed behind the trio, Alessandro and Valentina turned to Kandomere, both narrowing their eyes at him.  
“Okay listen up, we know that as her mate you don’t want to hurt her, not intentionally at least,” Valentina started, and Alessandro continued.  
“But we swear to all that is holy and unholy, if she gets hurt, we will come after you!” he glared, and Kandomere sighed.  
“Fogteeth already has my permission to do the job of torturing and killing me if I hurt her, but feel free to take your turn after,” he deadpanned, and the siblings laughed, leading him back out into the dining room.  
“I like him!” Valentina said, letting him sit down across from Freya. Alessandro just nodded.  
“Of course you do! What’s not to like?” she asked innocently, and the siblings smiled, shaking their heads.  
“Dinner’s on the house!” Valentina smiled, turning around and walking into the kitchen, leaving Alessandro to deal with a glaring Freya.   
“No it’s not!” Freya pouted, glaring at Alessandro. “I am paying for my own food goddamnit!”. Alessandro shook his head. Before it could escalate Kandomere tried to appease the cousins.  
“I can pay,” he offered, but Freya turned her glare to him, causing him to flinch.  
“You most certainly will not!” she grumbled, reaching into her pocket and pulling out $30. Before either of the elvish men could react, Freya had shoved the $30 into Alessandro’s hand and stuck her tongue out. “No give backsies!” she smirked, and Alessandro sighed, turning around and heading back to the register leaving the couple to talk.  
As they chatted, Valentina came over and placed a cheese calzone in front of Freya. She turned to Kandomere and rose an eyebrow.  
“And what can I get you?” she asked, and Kandomere smiled politely.  
“Can I get a small cheese pizza?” he asked, and Valentina nodded, scurrying back into the kitchen.   
Once Kandomere’s food had came, and they were eating, Freya paused, putting her fork down and dropping her gaze.  
“What’s wrong, querida?” he asked, and Freya blushed.  
“Oh! It’s just… I have an… appetite,” Freya gritted out, blushing and Kandomere reached over the table to grab her hand.  
“Hey, I could care less how much you eat compared to me,” he reassured. “I’m not going to ask you to change anything about your lifestyle for me,” he told her, and Freya’s face lit up. Leaning over to give him a kiss, she didn’t notice Valentina coming behind her with a piping hot plate of lasagna. She squeed as she saw the innocent peck, and shouted in Freya’s ear.  
“LEAVE ROOM FOR JESUS!” she shouted, and Freya shrieked, surprised. Her hands flung out as she jumped at the startling shout of her cousin, and one of them collided with the hot plate of lasagna.   
Freya quickly pulled her hand to her chest and whimpered, already a large welt appearing on her hand. Kandomere gasped and rushed around the table to pull her into him.  
“Get some ice,” he commanded Valentina, and she nodded, quickly running into the kitchen to get some ice. She almost ran into her brother, who had come out behind the counter with a bucket of ice. Alessandro shot her a look as he went over to Kandomere and Freya.  
“Honestly Val you know she startles easily,” he muttered, handing the bucket of ice to Kandomere. “You guys can go chill upstairs in the apartment,” he said, nodding his head towards a door behind the counter, and Kandomere nodded, lifting Freya up bridal style and starting up the stairs.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A conversation that I literally had with myself 5 minutes ago (word for word):  
> Me: Oh shizznick it's Wednesday!  
> Myself: Dude I gotta update  
> Me: Where the hecky did I put my laptop?  
> Anywho, enjoy!

In the twin’s apartment, which was actually very nice compared to what you’d expect based on the dingy exterior, Kandomere and Freya were sitting on the couch in the living room. Well, a more accurate way to put it would be that Kandomere was sitting on the couch and Freya in his lap. Freya was dozing, and Kandomere was holding a bag of ice to her hand. Kandomere was about to start dozing to when he heard some voices whispering through the door to the apartment.

“I don’t wanna go in first!” it was Alessandro and Valentina. “You go first!” he heard Valentina sigh exasperatedly.

“Why can’t you just open the door Alessandro?”

“What if they’re having sex or something?! I don’t wanna walk in on that!!” Kandomere shook his head lightly, trying not to disturb the sleeping Norse Goddess in his arms. What was it with everyone assuming they were having sex? Granted, it was normal for elven mates to be intimate basically upon discovering they were mates, but Freya was human, so they really should take that into account before making assumptions.

“Alessandro, she burnt her hand! I doubt they’re having sex right now!” 

Kandomere, not wanting to listen to any more of this conversation, cleared his throat lightly, knowing they’d hear him through the door. Their conversation promptly quieted. Freya stirred, having been jostled a bit in Kandomere’s discomfort.

“Huh?” she mumbled. “Is everything alright?” she asked, nuzzling a little into the nook of Kandomere’s neck.

“Everything’s perfectly fine, mi alma, rest some more,” he told her, placing a kiss on the crown of her head. She nodded a bit, then went back to snoozing.

A couple minutes later Freya started to squirm, muttering and whimpering. Kandomere’s brows came together in a furrow as he lightly shook her, trying to wake her up.

“Freya,” he rumbled softly, jostling her shoulders a bit more, then deciding to take a different approach. He began to pepper kisses along her face and neck, occasionally nuzzling into her cheek. “Mi amor, calme, está bien,” and he continued to murmur sweet nothings to her until she startled awake.

“Huh?” she asked unintelligibly. “Oh, sorry,” she muttered to Kandomere once she realized where she was and what was going on. 

“Are you alright?” Kandomere asked, and Freya nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine, hun,” she reassured, continuing. “I just get nightmares sometimes,” she explained, and Kandomere nodded.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, and Freya shook her head negative. He nodded to show he understood, and gently nudged her off of him. Kandomere stood up and grasped Freya’s uninjured hand to help her up. “Now I believe it’s time to get you home,” he smiled, and Freya nodded, starting to walk to the door before she shrieked as Kandomere lifted her into his arms bridal style.

“Kandomere!” she shouted, laughing already, and Kandomere just smirked at her, leaning in close to give her an eskimo kiss. When he pulled away he rose an eyebrow.

“Problem?” he challenged, and Freya just shook her head, still giggling a little bit.

“Nope,” she popped the p and leaned her head back on Kandomere’s shoulder. Kandomere’s smirk morphed into an affectionate smile as he began to walk. Awkwardly contorting, Freya reached her arm out to open the door before snuggling back into Kandomere’s chest. Kandomere quickly walked down the stairs and out the restaurant, smirking at Freya’s blush as they walked through the crowded restaurant, getting more than a few shares. Her blush deepened as she heard her cousins’ obnoxious laughter as the door to the restaurant closed behind them.

Finally Freya was put down in Kandomere’s passenger seat, and Kandomere hurried to the driver’s side, starting up the car and taking off down the LA streets towards Freya’s apartment in the orc sector.

Once back in the orc sector, with Kandomere’s lamborghini parked outside Freya’s building, Kandomere held up a finger to signal Freya not to move. She nodded, puzzled, and Kandomere got out of the car. He rushed around to open Freya’s door, and he gestured for her stand up. The purplette rose an eyebrow, climbing out of the car only to be promptly lifted into Kandomere’s arms once again. This time, instead of laughing, Freya glared at her elvish mate. Kandomere pointedly ignored her as he brought her up the stairs to her apartment.

“I can walk goddamnit!” she grumbled. “I burned my hand! I didn’t break my spine!” she glared at him, and Kandomere smirked.

“I know, querida, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to carry you,” he smirked, and Freya scowled.

“You’re just trying to show off your unreasonably strong elf muscles,” she muttered, and it was Kandomere’s turn to laugh.

“Maybe, querida, maybe,” he smiled, strolling into her bedroom and finally setting her down in the center of her bed. Freya rolled her eyes, standing and going through her drawers to find a pair of boy shorts and a tank top. Once they were found she went into her ensuite, pointing at Kandomere as if to tell him to wait for a second.

“I’ll be right out,” she called over her shoulder, quickly changing into her chosen PJs and brushing her teeth before walking out and giggling at seeing Kandomere awkwardly standing in her bedroom. She shook her head at how out of his element he looked, and she climbed onto her bed. Kandomere finally realized that he was capable of movement and walked over to her, pulling the covers over Freya and kissing her forehead. He smiled fondly at her as the day finally caught up to Freya and her eyes began to droop. 

“Is there anything I can do to help you sleep?” he asked, and Freya returned his smile. She reached her hands out from underneath the covers and gripped his suit jacket. Kandomere, thinking she wanted a kiss, leaned down to meet her, but then let out a shout of surprise as Freya pulled him down onto the bed with her. Snuggling up to him, said human hummed.

“Snuggles,” she mumbled into his neck, smiling contentedly. Kandomere laughed, kissing her temple and getting up off the bed.

“Alright, mi amor, just let me get a bit more comfortable,” he smiled, taking off his suit jacket and continuing to strip until he was down to his boxers. Freya gaped, staring and ogling at Kandomere’s muscular body and he just smirked, winking at her as he walked back to the bed. “See something you like, querida?” he asked, the smug smirk not leaving his face, and Freya pouted, sinking further into the bed and turning away from him.

“Well if you’re gonna be a smug little shit, forget the snuggles,” she grumbled. Kandomere’s eyes widened, and he leaped onto the bed, kissing every patch of Freya’s skin he could find, her back and shoulders that weren’t covered by the tank top. He leaned around to get her neck and after quite a bit of groveling and nuzzling and sloppy open-mouthed kisses anywhere Kandomere could get his mouth on, a beautiful sound filled the room and Kandomere froze. Freya quickly covered her mouth with a gasp, embarrassed by the sensual moan she had let out. Kandomere smirked once again, continuing to pepper kisses on Freya, turning her in his arms to put a kiss on her lips.

“So does that mean snuggles are still on the table?” he asked, and Freya groaned, slamming her head back into the pillow.

“Fine,” she grumbled, glaring at him a bit. “This whole mate thing isn’t fair,” she continued, and Kandomere tilted his head, confused. “How am I supposed to stay mad at you when your kisses feel that good?” her glaring intensified, and Kandomere’s chest shook with his very hard to contain laughter.

“What if it’s not ‘this whole mate thing’?” he asked, booping her nose, and Freya rolled her head to look at him, face set in a straight line.

“Then you’re fucking perfect, Kandy,” she deadpanned, and Kandomere did a double take, looking at her in (not so) fake mortification.

“Kandy?!” he sputtered, and Freya smiled shyly.

“Don’t tell me no one’s ever called you that before,” she rolled her eyes, and Kandomere shook his head.

“Not since I was a teenager!” he insisted. Freya laughed loudly, reaching over to the bedside table where she put her phone after she changed. Pulling up her contacts list and scrolling until she found Kandomere’s contact, she tapped it and turned the phone to show him. The elf’s eyes widened, shooting up to glare at his mate.

“Kandyman?” he growled, and Freya’s shy smile remained as she shrugged her shoulders. She met his eyes and winked.

“It’s ‘cuz you’re soooo sweet,” she leaned up to give him a big sloppy kiss on the lips, and Kandomere rolled his eyes.

“From you, I guess it’s acceptable,” he mumbled, and Freya smiled up at him, nuzzling back into him. As she snatched her phone back she tapped on the photo icon.

“I need a picture for your contact,” she said, and held up the phone to take a selfie with him. Looking at the picture, her smile widened. Her mate truly was a beautiful thing to behold. In the picture his hair was tousled and the fact that he was shirtless was definitely a bonus. Kandomere stood up and walked over to where he had discarded his pants on the floor. Freya shamelessly, but still subtly, checked out his muscular back as he bent down to rifle through the pocket and grabbed his phone. When Kandomere turned back around Freya’s eyes flitted away as her face glowed with a pink blush. Kandomere walked over and opened the camera app on his phone and snapped a picture before Freya could react.

“Hey!” she shouted, indignant. “Delete that!” she had that cute glare on her face again. Kandomere laughed, rolling his eyes and putting his phone on the bedside table.

“Why would I do that?” he asked as he climbed back onto the bed, and Freya’s glare intensified, before dropping as she scooted closer to him. Ultimately, in the battle of to snuggle or not snuggle, to snuggle came out victorious. Kandomere’s arms circled her as he pulled her to his chest, and Freya smiled, relaxing and closing her eyes, ready to sleep. Her brain had different ideas.

_ Skin skin skin skin muscles skin skin skin skin skIN sKIN SKIN SKIN!!  _ Her mind shouted at her, and Freya grumbled, trying to ignore the thoughts.

“Shut up brain,” she mumbled, and Kandomere glanced down at her, confused.

“What was that, querida?” he asked, and Freya’s head shot up to look at him.

“Uh…” she laughed nervously. “Nothing!” she blurted out and slammed her head back down on his chest, trying to force herself to instantly fall asleep to avoid mortification. Kandomere chuckled, tightening his arms around her. Freya sighed, before a thought popped into her head. “Don’t you have work tomorrow?” she asked, and Kandomere tensed up.

“Shit,” he grumbled, leaning his head back with a groan. Now, Special Agent Kandomere had absolutely no problem with his job, he loved it in fact, but there was one downside… (Okay two but who’s actually counting). The GBF. Montehugh, the gay best friend, was going to want all the juicy details. Freya giggled, reaching over to grab her phone, setting an alarm for 5:30 am.

“The shop opens at 7:00, so I’ll have to get up early anyway,” she explained. “Does 5:30 give you enough time?” she asked, and Kandomere nodded.

“That should be fine,” he mumbled, giving her a quick peck on the lips as they both settled down to sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright so I know I'm a day early, but I'm getting on a plane on 3 am Thursday morning so tomorrow is going to really hectic. I won't be able to work on writing while I'm on vacation (in Hawaii! Woohoo!) so the next chapter may be a bit late. I will try to be on time though!

_“Don’t wanna be an American Idiot!”_ Freya’s eyes slowly opened to her blaring alarm. She was used to this alarm, so she awoke gently. Her elvish mate, however, did not.

_“Don’t want a nation under the new media!”_   Kandomere shot up with a strangled shout, promptly falling out of the bed. Now fully conscious, Kandomere looked around, still slightly dazed from his tumble off the bed. Freya leaned over the edge of the bed, smiling brightly at him.

“Good morning sunshine!” she chirped to him, and Kandomere groaned.

“I was definitely expecting a much more pleasant wake up call,” he muttered, and Freya rose an eyebrow, smirking a bit.

“Oh poor baby, did you want breakfast in bed and the best morning sex of your life?” she teased, and Kandomere rose an eyebrow straight back at her.

“Honestly?” he asked, and Freya blushed, going back up and swinging her feet off the other side of the bed.

“Cheeky,” she muttered, and Kandomere grinned, getting up off the floor and walking over to the pile of his clothes that he left on the dresser. Wrinkling his nose at the fact that this would be his third day in a row putting this shirt on he sighed. Quickly getting dressed and going over to Freya, who was still sat on the bed, Kandomere pouted at his mate.

“I have to go back to my apartment to get clothes for work,” he mumbled, and Freya leaned up to give him a kiss on the lips.

“Have a good day, hun,” she murmured against his lips and he smiled slightly, turning around and starting to walk out the door. “And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” she called after him. Kandomere turned his head to glance at her, raising an eyebrow before finally willing himself to exit the apartment.

Once she heard the door shut behind him Freya stood up, walking to her bedroom window which overlooked the street. She watched as Kandomere got into his car and drove away, and when she could no longer see his car she squealed, jumping onto the bed face down. Freaking out for a bit about Kandomere, eventually Freya had to get up and get ready for the day herself. Walking into her ensuite she turned on the shower and pulled off her clothes from yesterday that she had neglected to change out of the night before.

Stepping in once the water was scalding hot, Freya sighed, her mind quickly drifting to the night before, specifically when Kandomere had stripped. Noticing the warmth in her core that she knew wouldn’t just go away, Freya reached a hand down to the juncture of her thighs. Rubbing her clit gently as her other hand massaged her breast, Freya let out a whimper, thinking back to his muscled chest and that little happy trail that lead down to his boxers. In her mind her fingers were replaced with Kandomere’s larger ones, and they slowly dipped down to have one enter her. She let out a quiet moan as her other hand left her breast to grasp onto something, finding a shelf in the shower. Inserting another finger slowly, she gasped at the unfamiliar stretch. She was no stranger to masturbation, but before one finger had usually been enough to get her off. 

Once her second finger was as far in as it could go, Freya started to pump her fingers, cursing her small hands, her fingers not quite long enough to reach where she wanted them to. She shuddered, imagining Kandomere’s eyes, how his face would look when he took her for the first time. Gasping as the pressure that had been building up in her abdomen released and warmth spread all throughout her body, Freya leaned back against the shower tiles, breathing heavily.

Freya quickly cleaned herself up, washing her hair and body. She decided to shave her legs and in between, just in case.

Once Freya was out of the bathroom and getting dressed, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and smiled to see the text from Kandomere.

6:15 am

Kandyman : Have a good day, querida

Freya hummed with a dopey smile on her face, texting back as she walked into her kitchen.

6:20 am

***-***-**** : You too Kandyman ;)

Freya opened her fridge to grab the bag of blueberries she had purchased last time she went grocery shopping, filling a bowl and walking downstairs to open up the shop. Before she could flip the open sign she had to do a couple chores. She watered the plants that needed it, refilled the shelves of seed packets with what they needed, and then she went back behind the building to the greenhouse. Knocking gently on the door before walking in Freya smiled at the sprites already awake and tending to the garden. The small fairies looked up at her and quickly flew over to greet her.

As Freya set the blueberries down for the sprites, she started up a conversation with them.

“Guys you won’t believe what happened!” she gushed, and the matriarch of the sprite colony in her greenhouse, Tillie, looked up.

“Oh dear, what happened?” she asked, expecting something horrible. What she didn’t expect was for Freya to let out a loud squee.

“I met an elf the other day and we went on a date and then we found out we were mates and he stayed over last night and ohmygosh he’s so sweet and he’s hella sexy and I’m so HAPPY!” she got out in one breath, the sprites frozen, staring at her, before the human was surrounded in cheers.

“You have to bring him back some time! We gotta meet him!” Tillie demanded, and Freya nodded.

“Don’t worry, I will!” she reassured, turning to go back to the store. “Have a good day, ladies!” she called over her shoulder.

“Have fun with this elvish hunk!” Tillie called after her, and Freya blushed.

“Not too much fun though!” one of the other sprites shouted, and Freya’s blush worsened. She shuffled into the store, seeing that she had some time before she had to open so Freya got a head start on some arrangements that various people had ordered. At 7 o’clock on the dot Freya flipped the open sign and went back to the counter to continue the arrangements.

 

As Kandomere pulled into the MTF, he had to stay in his car for a full minute trying to wipe the smile off his face. Eventually he sighed, getting out of his car and walking into the building after deciding that it was a lost cause. Once on the sixth floor where he and Montehugh’s offices were, he felt a buzz in his pocket. He sat down behind his desk and fished his phone out, pulling up his conversations.

6:20 am

Norse Goddess <3 : You too Kandyman ;)

His face, which had already been stuck in a smile for the entire morning, broke out into an even larger grin. He barely glanced up as the door to his office opened, but quickly gave a shout once Montehugh snatched his phone out of his hands.

“Hey!” he shouted, and Montehugh laughed, looking through the conversation.

“I see the question mark is gone,” he smirked at his elvish boss, who groaned, slamming his forehead onto his desk.

“I hate you,” he muttered.

“Nah, you really don’t,” Montehugh laughed, and Kandomere just groaned once again.

“Oh trust me, I do,” Kandomere picked his head up to glare at Montehugh. Montehugh laughed loudly before sighing.

“Come on, quit sulking, we got a case,” he patted Kandomere on the back and went down to the garage to bring out the MTF car that Kandomere insisted they drive after his last car got totaled on a case. Kandomere slowly stood up to follow him, knowing he had definitely not heard the end of his partner/best friend’s teasing.

Kandomere went down to the lobby and was just stepping out of the building when Montehugh pulled up to the curb. Montehugh stayed in the driver’s seat as Kandomere walked up, but when Kandomere got to the driver’s side door Montehugh sighed and got out to go around to the passenger side.

“I never get to drive…” he muttered bitterly as they pulled out of the MTF parking lot. Kandomere rose an eyebrow, side eyeing him.

“That’s because last time you drove, we ended up getting taken hostage,” he reasoned, and Montehugh huffed.

“There was a red light!” he whined, and Kandomere sighed.

“We are federal agents, we were in a car chase with an orc gang with guns, you can run a red light Ulysses!” Kandomere snapped, but without much fire behind it. They had this discussion every time they drove to a case, and Montehugh honestly just started the conversation to fire Kandomere up at this point.

Eventually they pulled up to a high rise apartment building in Elf Town. Flashing their badges at the security in the lobby they went up to the penthouse, where a police officer started to let them through when a man in a trenchcoat rushed over to them.

“Hey! I don’t know what you feds are doing here, but this is my case! Scram!” he shouted at them. Kandomere glared intensely, staying silent to let Montehugh handle the situation. The elf moved over to lean against the wall while Montehugh confronted the rude detective.

“This _was_ your case, buddy,” Montehugh grit out. “But the MTF is taking over, whether you like it or not!” he growled, and the man glared right back at the pair of MTF agents.

“Fine, I guess we can make this a joint case, you two can tag along,” he sighed, and Montehugh shook his head.

“I don’t think you understand,” he said, then pointed over to the elevator. “You, are gonna walk over to that elevator, go back down to the lobby, and get your ass back to your desk, without this case,” he glared, but the detective stood his ground. That is, until Kandomere pushed himself off the wall and started to walk over to the detective. Walking right up to the man so they were chest to chest, or rather, head to chest, Kandomere’s glare  intensified. Towering over the man, he almost immediately flinched and started to back away towards the elevator.

“Right, sorry,” he mumbled as the elevator doors closed on him.

Kandomere and Montehugh exchanged a look, both rolling their eyes at the man before they turned to walk into the apartment. Immediately upon walking in Kandomere was assaulted with the smell of blood. Looking down the pair of MTF agents saw an elven man lying face down on the kitchen floor in a pool of - presumably - his blood. Montehugh pulled out his phone to pull up the case file, using a nifty app that the MTF had created a month or two ago.

“The victim’s name is Laslin Berefort, he’s starred in several movies over the past three decades,” Montehugh read. “But he hasn’t looked at a single offer for a role in over 6 months,” he continued, looking down at the elf. As they walked around the kitchen to get a view of the rest of the open concept apartment, the pair gasped as they saw the symbol for the Inferni painted above the TV in blood. The symbol consisted of a pair of simply drawn wings above a stereotypical devil’s tail looping into an S, with the point being between the two wings. Montehugh leaned back out into the hallway, beckoning one of the minor agents over.

“Have the labs run a test on that blood, make sure it’s all his,” he told the agent, who nodded and scurried off to find someone to do a swab. Looking back over at Kandomere, who had wandered over to a desk near one of the large windows, he called over. “Find anything, boss?” he asked, and Kandomere stayed staring at the desk.

“Maybe,” he responded, pulling on some gloves and picking up a journal on the desk. Looking through it quickly, he saw many symbols drawn in no particular order or pattern all throughout the journal, mixed with descriptions of odd dreams the victim had been having. The victim had been having dreams where he was in total darkness, and many different voices kept telling him to do different things. Occasionally a symbol would show through the darkness, and he drew all the symbols he saw in the journal. Kandomere gestured for Montehugh to join him, who quickly glanced at the journal, and then groaned.

“Awe shit,” he muttered. “We’re gonna have to call in that centaur, aren’t we?” he asked, referring to a rather perverted centaur who worked for the MTF as an expert on the occult.

“I think so,” Kandomere said simply, putting the journal in an evidence bag as the pair left to let everything else be swabbed and bagged. Once they were back at the MTF headquarters, agents Kandomere and Montehugh stood in the office of the head of the MTF, an elf named Avitus. Avitus was tall, even by elf standards, and his hair was a deep midnight blue, appearing almost black closer to his roots. They had briefed him on the case as they knew it so far, but when Montehugh mentioned giving the centaur a call, Avitus held up his hand.

“Actually,” he interjected. “There’s a consultant that other law enforcement agencies have used, and she’s quite good,” he informed them, and the pair nodded. 

“What’s this consultant’s name?” Kandomere asked.

“Freya Bond,” Avitus responded, quirking an eyebrow at Kandomere’s tensing. Montehugh, however, did not notice his best friend’s suddenly rigid figure.

“Bond?” he laughed. “There’s someone with the actual last name _Bond?_ ” he continued to laugh until he glanced up at Kandomere, then he froze as well. “Wait, _Freya?!_ ” he almost shouted, and Avitus nodded, a little perplexed at the pair’s reaction to the name of the consultant.

“Is that name significant?” Avitus asked, and Kandomere nodded slightly, explaining.

“My mate, who I met very recently, shares the same first name,” he told Avitus, who nodded.

“Well, I’ll just give her a call,” he moved on, pulling out his cell and going to the email another law enforcement director had sent him about the consultant. Clicking on the number, he put the phone on speaker and waited for the consultant to pick up.

Meanwhile Kandomere was awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, a mantra repeating in his head of _please don’t be her please don’t be her_.

_“Floral Sprite, how may I help you?”_ It was her. His Freya. Avitus cleared his throat.

“Yes, I am looking for a woman named Freya Bond, do I have the right number?” he asked.

_“Yes, this is she,”_ she responded, and Avitus sighed.

“I am Director Avitus of the Magic Task Force, and I have need of an expert on the occult, a fellow agency head recommended your service,” he explained.

_“Oh! Of course! Is the consultation urgent? Or can I stop by after I close?”_ she asks, and they all flinched as a crash was heard in the background. _“Mikey! Don’t make me use this hose on you!”_ she shouted, though her voice was muffled as though she had tried to cover the microphone of her cell.

“After you close will be fine,” Avitus answered, pretending to not have heard her shouting at Mikey. “How much would you expect for a consultation?” he asked, and Freya’s laughter flowed through the speakers of the phone.

_“Oh it’s a hobby! I never charge for consultations unless they directly put me in danger,”_ she told him, and the men in Avitus’ office all raised their eyebrows in disbelief. _“Anywho! I close around 4, so I can get to MTF headquarters by 5 probably, I would be there sooner but my cousin is borrowing my car right now,”_ she explained.

“I can drive her,” Kandomere volunteers, and Montehugh starts laughing loudly.

“That’s her isn’t it?” he asked, and Kandomere nods, glaring. Avitus also glared, however his glare was directed towards both agents, conveying the silent message of ‘shut the hell up’.

“Special Agent Kandomere will pick you up around 4, if that’s alright?” he posed it as a question, though everyone involved in the interaction could tell that he was really just informing her rather than actually asking her.

_“Okie dokie!”_ her cheery voice answered, and a beep was heard as she ended the call.

 

As soon as Freya ended the call, her phone buzzed with a text. Opening up her conversations, she giggled.

2:33 pm

Kandyman : Since when are you an expert on the occult!?

Freya continued to giggle as she began typing her response, however said response was put on hold as the door to her shop opened. Looking up, she put her phone down and stood to give Dorghu a hug. Before she could reach him however, he sidestepped and sniffed the air.

“Damn, you _reek_ of that elf,” he grumbled, and Freya pouted, holding her arms out. “Fine,” he muttered as he wrapped his arms around her, Freya’s pout morphing into a grin.

When Freya pulled away she ran behind the counter and grabbed a bouquet off a table. Handing it to Dorghu she winked.

“No charge,” she told him, and Dorghu tilted his head at her, confused.

“What?” he asked, and Freya giggled.

“If you don’t ask Nick out I swear my head is going through that table over there,” she pointed behind her at the hefty wooden table she kept her arrangements on. Dorghu grunted, snatching the flowers and walking away. “Love ya!” she called after him, and he just grunted again.

“If this goes to shit I’m blaming you,” he mumbled, and Freya rolled her eyes.

“It won’t!” she shouted as the door shut behind him, then laughed as Dorghu stuck up his middle finger as he walked away.

Pulling her phone back out, she finished typing her response before hitting send, a little smirk on her face.

2:40 pm

***-***-**** : Oh honey there’s quite a bit you don’t know about me yet ;)


End file.
